ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi –
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has called on stakeholders to take urgent steps to reduce the rate of drug abuse in the state especially among women.
The State Commander of the NDLEA, Segun Oke, stated this during a Public Enlightenment and Round Table Programme, Launching of War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) and decoration of promoted Officers, at the agency’s headquarters on Thursday.
Oke who was responding to a question on the causes of the increase of women in drug abuse in the state, disclosed that more women are getting into drug abuse in the state because they are abandoned by their husbands.
He added that some of the women said they are into drugs due to depression, pointing out that these are confessions of women brought to the NDLEA facility in Bauchi for abusing drugs.
“Sadly, women involve in drugs and from our research, we’ve found out that some situations lead them into drugs, either they are depressed, abandoned or they are not getting the right attention.
“Some of them say that their husbands don’t give them attention and they have no choice but to go into drugs. These are life confessions of women that have been brought into our facilities where we do do counselling and in some cases, in-house rehabilitation.” Oke said.
According to him, the development is “sad and a sorry situation” noting that unless something urgently is done to address this ugly trend, more women will be involved in drug abuse.
Speaking earlier, in his opening address, the NDLEA Commander, who encouraged participants to “talk frankly and candidly” about the situation of drug abuse in Bauchi state, added that in his three years heading the Agency, the common drugs in the state are cannabis, psychotropics “and recently, heroin and cocaine.”
Oke charged stakeholders not to feel that drugs are not being abused or there is no drug problem in the state, stressing that NDLEA’s findings has shown that “all these drugs are now present in Bauchi.”
He said that operatives of the Agency are constantly raiding black spots across the state to arrest suspects and seize these illicit drugs.
The Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, in his speech before launching the WADA, called on the stakeholders and residents of the state to see the war against drugs abuse as the collective responsibility of everyone and not just that of the NDLEA alone.
The governor who was represented by his Special Adviser on Security, General Markus Yake (retd.), charged security agencies in the state to collaborate with the NDLEA saying, “there must be synergy among the security agencies in identifying, arresting and prosecuting drug offenders.”
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that one of the unanimous agreement of stakeholders who include security agencies in the state, the media, traditional institutions, among others was for the NDLEA to do more in stopping the supply of drugs to the state because, according to them, “if there is no supply, there will be no consumption.”
A total of 14 officers of the Agency in Bauchi, who have been promoted to various ranks within the past one year were decorated during the programme.
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