National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kwara State Command, has raised the alarm over increasing rate of drug abuse among youth in the state.
Speaking among other narcotic experts in Ilorin at the first Kwara stakeholders summit on drug abuse, prevention, and control, themed, forging a common front in the fight against drug abuse, the state NDLEA commander, Mohammed Bashir Ibrahim, said that his men seized 1.8tons of banned substances in 2023, adding that the substances had been confiscated.
NDLEA commander, who spoke on “Drug Law Enforcement in Kwara: Progress, Challenges, and Way Forward”, said the alarming rate of drug abuse among the youth in Nigeria and particularly in Kwara state calls for concern of all stakeholders.
While he thanked Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for his support so far, pledged that the agency will strengthen constant education, enforcement, and rehabilitation programmes to rid the state of drug addiction.
He said the command will soon commence training of trainers in communities, who he said will comprise community and religious leaders in the state on how to prevent and control drug abuse.
Also speaking, the executive director, Global Initiative on Substance Abuse, Dr. Martins Agwogie, said that general ban on dangerous substances has led drug addicts to explore cemeteries for alternative remedies.
Agwogie said that drug addicts now besiege cemeteries to exhume corpses, gather their dry bones which they grind and later sniff.
He, however, condemned total ban on substances, arguing that the step was merely taken because of abuse not considering those who actually need them as recommended medications.
Describing drug abuse as a social menace, Agwogie lamented that Nigeria is one of the worst drug users in the world.
He commended the efforts of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in fighting the menace.
Proffering solutions, Agwogie advised state governments to take firm control by showing renewed interest in the menace rather than shifting the task to the two related agencies.
“All states have drug abuse control committees in their local governments. They should strengthen them and stop over-reliance on law enforcement agencies,” he said.
This was as the Special Assistant to the president on citizenship and leadership, Ms. Rinsola Abiola, called for creation of more rehabilitation centres, seeking state governments’ dedicated partnership.
Rinsola Abiola also sought cooperation of the Kwara State in stemming the tide of drug abuse.
