Nigeria’s Anti-narcotic agency, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has revealed that it has arrested seventeen thousand six hindered and forty seven (17, 647) drug offenders and 10 barons in the past 17 months in the country.
It also said, it has convicted and jailed over two thousand drug offenders.
The agency noted that it has counselled and treated eleven thousand drug users within the same period.
The Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) Marwa disclosed this while unveiling a week long activities to mark this year’s United Nations day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Abuja with the theme: “Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises.”
The NDLEA boss said changing dynamics have forced a paradigm shift that encompasses a balanced approach to tackling the drug problem in the country.
“That has brought to the fore the imperative of looking at the drug problem through the lens of public health and also tackling such as a broader social problem rather than through the conventional, narrow, criminal matter approach.
“It has, therefore, also become prudent to initiate mechanisms and measures that are proactively extenuating. In our case, the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP) 2021-2025, launched last November, has incorporated components that tend to the health concerns of drug abuse.
“This will also enable those afraid of stigmitisation to be able to seek help without necessarily being seen or identified by anyone.”
Marwa said the agency will organize sensitization training on Drug Prevention, Treatment and Care for Governors’ Wives to bolster the effort on drug war to ensure that the consequences of drug abuse are nipped in the bud and prevented from snowballing into a public health problem.
Also speaking the Country Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime UNODC, Mr. Oliver Stolpe urged governments at all levels in Nigeria, candidates of political parties and international partners not to lose sight of the public health crisis caused by drug use in the country.
He said: “Based on the 2017/2018 data, we estimated that close to 6 million persons in Nigeria could be living with a drug use dependency. This creates a massive public health challenge.”
The United Nations day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking will celebrated on the 26 with the grand finale on the 27 at the Presidential Villa Abuja among several activities.
