The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised concern over Nigeria’s worsening drug abuse crisis that threatens its workforce, public safety, and economic stability, citing disturbing national and state-level indicators.

Commander of the NDLEA in Delta State, Halilu Hamidu, disclosed at a briefing in Ogwashi Uku that the latest report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) shows that 14.4 per cent of Nigerians aged between 15 and 64—the country’s most economically productive population—use drugs without medical supervision. Amidu said the report indicated that 10.4 per cent of the population consumed psychoactive substances, with one in every four users being female, underscoring the widening social spread of drug abuse.

He said that Delta State mirrors this troubling national trend, with many communities battling high level of drug use that go beyond individual addiction to destabilise families, neighbourhoods and the wider society.

“The consequences are severe, Drug abuse places enormous strain on public health services, fuels crime and insecurity, and weakens economic productivity as young people who should drive development become trapped in addiction. In practical terms, drugs hinder progress, threaten community safety and slow the state’s development,” he said.

He stressed that the growing menace had forced the NDLEA to elevate drug control as a top security and public health priority, prompting a strengthening of the Command’s operational framework to confront trafficking, dismantle distribution networks and reduce demand

According to Hamidu, the NDLEA’s strategy is built on supply reduction and demand reduction, saying that the Command is intensifying arrests, disrupting trafficking routes and prosecuting offenders.

On the social intervention side, it is expanding counselling services, rehabilitation programmes, advocacy campaigns and grassroots sensitisation, with prevention and care forming the backbone of its demand reduction efforts,” he added.

The NDLEA boss also revealed that operatives of the agency recently raided a warehouse at Oko Market in Asaba, intercepting large quantities of illicit and controlled substances, including Tramadol, Rohypnol, Hypnox, Diazepam, Exol-5 and Codeine, among others. He warned that the drugs, if allowed to reach the streets, could have caused widespread harm to millions of residents.

“The circulation of such drugs poses a severe threat to the safety, health and wellbeing of our youths, our markets and the state at large,” Hamidu said.

“Left unchecked, this single warehouse could have fuelled addiction, crime and tragedy across Delta State and beyond.” While assuring that investigations are ongoing, he said the Command would actively pursue all leads to identify, track and arrest those responsible for storing and trafficking the substances.

“Our actions during this Yuletide season reflect our unwavering commitment to keep Delta State safe, stable and secure, no matter the challenges before us,” he said. (The Guardian)

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