Drug abuse: Major cause of insecurity ---— Marwa


Lokoja ------------ Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa has described drug abuse not only as a national tragedy but the major cause of insecurity in the country.

 

Marwa spoke at a stakeholders meeting on Friday in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, lamenting that drug abuse remained the major cause of insecurity in the country.

 

He noted that bandits, kidnappers and many other gangs or persons that indulged in nefarious and criminal activities were usually on drugs, saying that it had become a national calamity.

 

He, then, asked Nigerians, irrespective of creed and ethnic leanings, to join hands and tackle the menace holistically.

 

“The time for all hands to be on deck and work collectively in stemming the negative trend of drug abuse and reduce to the barest minimum its incidences in the country is now,” he added.

 

Marwa stressed that he was working to fight accessibility to drugs through seizures and destruction of cannabis sativa farms and plantations across the country, even as he noted that drug demand and consumption levels in the country were alarming. 

 

According to him, all stakeholders had critical roles to play in bringing down the rate, starting from the family unit.

 

He then asked parents to be alert in the type of friends their children and wards keep, noting that they should also be observant and take note of changes in the behaviour of their children and ward

 

He further asked religious leaders to use their platforms to preach against the dangers of drug intake and abuse, pointing out that for the country to come out of the present insecurity, intake and abuse of drugs must be fought to a standstill.

 

The State Commander of NDLEA, Mr Alfred Adewumi, 

 

earlier in his welcome remarks, had commended Marwa for repositioning the agency for better performance.

 

Adewumi said that Marwa described the repositioning of the NDLEA towards fighting the drug abuse by reducing it to the barest minimum as a welcome development.

 

The stakeholders at the meeting included Civil Society Organisations, representatives of the Persons Living With Disabilities, PLWD, NCWS, NURTW among others, who promised to work with the NDLEA in it’s resolve to fight the menace..