Motor parks now points of drug shipments — NDLEA

THE Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Kwara State command, has raised the alarm that motor parks in Lagos, Oyo, Abuja and other metropolitan cities in the country have been turned to points of drug shipments.

Speaking in Ilorin at the MTN Anti-Susbstance Abuse Programme (ASAP) stakeholder conference themed: ‘The World Drug Problem: Persisting Issues, New Challenges, Innovative Responses’, the Kwara State NDLEA Commander, Fatima Abiola Popoola, urged more corporate bodies like the MTN Foundation to join in the drug war to tackle the challenge.

According to her, illicit drug dealers in Kwara often get their supplies from Lagos, Oyo, Abuja and other sources through commercial bus operators.

She explained that fighting the channel is most times difficult because some of the drivers, believed to be financially induced, always avoid check points.

Popoola added that aside from the commercial bus drivers, “some peddlers also use tinted (SUVs) vehicles to convey the banned substances.

She pleaded with corporate organisations to emulate the MTN Foundation in fighting drug abuse among the youths.
She advised that the one percent deduction after tax annually used by the MTN has gone a long way in settling its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), lamenting that the topical menace has eaten deeply into the fibre of the society.

“It is a known fact that most crimes committed by the youths have underlying drug abuse.We are calling on parents and community leaders to please take due care of their young ones,” she said.

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Also speaking, the Commissioner for Social Development, Hajia Nnafatimah Imam, described the MTN Foundation’s advocacy conference as laudable and a certain move to ensure drug-free society.