Northern youths campaign against violence, drug abuse

Worried by the menace of drug abuse among the youth particularly as the 2019 general elections approach, northern youths under the auspices of the Northern Youth Assembly of Nigeria (NYAN) have launched a campaign against violence and drug abuse among youths in Bauchi State.

Speaking during the occasion, the National Speaker of the assembly, Ukasha Hamza Rahama explained that the campaign became imperative “because some irresponsible politicians might drug some youths and use them to foment violence to achieve political missions.”

He opined further that although there were agitations for youths’ active participation in politics, they should not belittle themselves to become political thugs of candidates “who will later dump them after the elections.”

Hamza Rahama assured that the assembly would partner with relevant stakeholders in the fight to eradicate drug and substance abuse in the society.

The Speaker advocated the establishment of skill acquisition centres for youths to address youth restiveness that makes them indulge in drugs addiction and the establishment of rehabilitation centres for the addicts as part of measures to curb the menace.

ALSO READ: I did nothing wrong as FCT Minister ― Bala Mohammed declares

Also speaking, the Medical Director of PAHLYCON Hospital Bauchi, Dr Hassan Mohammed Garba who is also the Chairman of Guild of Medical Directors of Private Hospitals in Bauchi State promised to support the assembly to find a lasting solution to the menace in the society.

In his remarks, the representative of the Bauchi State Commandant of National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Muhammed Bawa who attributed proliferation of illegal drugs in the society to unauthorized sale of cough syrups at chemists disclosed that the northern part of the country has the highest number of drug abusers.

According to him, some signs of drugs abuse among the youths and children include changes in mode of dressing, friends, unnecessary spray of scent in their rooms and sucking tom-tom and mints all the time to erase odour of the drugs from their rooms and mouth, advising parents to monitoring such strange behaviors among their wards.