The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig-Gen Mohammed Marwa (Rtd), has said that drug users and addicts no longer have an excuse not to seek treatment with the commissioning of a modern 24/7 call centre set up to attend to Nigerians from all parts of the country.
Marwa spoke on Thursday at the commissioning of the NDLEA call centre with toll-free helpline and manned by professionals and experts in counselling, psychotherapy, psychology and psychiatry among others in Abuja.
According to him, “The provision of this toll-free helpline is a milestone in our resolve to broaden access to quality health care for drug users in the country. This has become a necessity and a strategic intervention in our determined effort to bring under control the increasing cases of drug use disorder and related health concerns.”
He said though the country has treatment centres, while NDLEA has 26 treatment facilities across its commands, they are nevertheless grossly inadequate in the face of statistics of drug users and those suffering from drug use disorder.
“NDLEA recognised the importance of providing a safety bubble for users who ordinarily cannot access the conventional treatment services at established rehabilitation centres due to poverty, social stigma and the resultant discrimination attached to being an identified drug user in society, among other factors.
“The NDLEA Call Centre is manned by a team of licensed and credible clinical psychologists, counsellors, support workers and mental health professionals who would provide the needed support in aiding recovery, managing social and emotional problems, improving quality of life and enhancing performance and productivity of the users of the service. With its state-of-the-art equipment and its team of highly trained professionals in substance abuse disorder, this centre offers a teletherapy service according to global best practices.
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“The Call Centre is manifolds. Aside from helping us in providing telephone-based psychosocial support and addiction services in the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), it will at the same time provide us with information that will deepen our understanding of the country’s dynamics of drug use and potentially put us ahead of the game.
“To those in need of help, we open a new chapter today, whereby help is just a phone call away. We have simplified the helpline service by making it language-sensitive whereby callers have the choice of language including English, Pidgin, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo. And very importantly, the helpline is open 24/7. A call to the helpline, 0800 1020 3040, elicits a prompt response from professionals, regardless of the time or geographic location,” he said.
In their remarks at the event, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), represented by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, Muhammed Abubakar; UNODC country representative, Oliver Stolpe and European Union delegation representative, Eleni Zerzerlidou commended the NDLEA for the initiative, called for its expansion and sustenance.
The Chief Executive of the company managing the centre, Primly Services Ltd, Dr Vincent Udenze, commended Marwa for providing the leadership that made the initiative a reality.
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