The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Cross River Command, has called on the Cross River State government to, as a matter of urgency, build a rehabilitation centre for illicit drug users in the state.
The State Commander, Mrs Antonia Edeh, who made the call in Calabar, said the absence of a rehabilitation centre had made it difficult for the agency to properly counsel and rehabilitate repentant illicit drug addicts.
She said, ‘’ it is unfortunate that Cross River has no rehabilitation centres where we can rehabilitate illicit drug addicts.
‘’We have appealed to the government; and we are still appealing to them to establish one; we need it. There must be a rehabilitation centre in Cross River. It is necessary and very important.’’
The commander disclosed that, due to lack of rehabilitation centres, the agency referred addicts to Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar after counseling.
‘’But one problem with this is that, because of the nature of Psychiatric hospitals, people regard these people as mad people; so this had often scared parents, who preferred returning them home.
Our job is not complete until a complete rehabilitation is carried out,’’ he said.
She regretted that the state government had not played any significant role in the fight against illicit drug abuse, adding that government regarded drug abuse as personal issues.
’Honestly, the government has not done much to support our efforts because they do not regard illicit drug fight as very important. This is very unfortunate.’’
Edeh further solicited the support of government in the area of logistics including vehicles, to help them fight drug users in the state.
She added that the level of drug abuse in the state had drastically reduced due to the efforts of the agency.
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