The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, announced that
Nigeria has the highest number of persons serving jail terms for
drug related offences worldwide.
Iweajunwa Okechukwu, the NDLEA commander in the state
disclosed this while celebrating the 2015 UN Drug Free Day in
Minna on Friday.
“There is no doubt that as a country, the menace of drug abuse and
trafficking is one of the biggest problems staring us in the face
today.
“All over the world, Nigerians are notorious for drug trafficking.
We have the highest number of traffickers serving jail terms more
than any other country in the world,’’ he said.
This year’s Drug Free Day is tagged: “Let’s Develop our Lives, our
communities and our identities without drugs’’.
Okechukwu said that the recent Indonesian incident involving
Nigerians was a pointer to the claim.
He said that in Niger there was a serious issue of drug abuse,
especially the prescription drugs and psychotropic substances such
as tramadol, rohypnol and diazepam.
According to him, other drugs abused in the state include Librium,
cough syrups with codeine, sukudia (suck and die), glue, solutions,
petrol, gutter dirt, zakami, lizard dung and cannabis sativa (Indian
hemp).
He said that the harmful habit was common among the youths,
married women, secondary school students and primary school
pupils.
The agency’s commander urged parents, teachers, religious leaders,
state government and traditional leaders to see drug abuse as a
societal problem that must be tackled by all stakeholders toward
minimising it.
Okechukwu advised the people of the state to desist from abusing
drugs and report illegal drug dealings to the agency.
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