The Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Monday, exonerated disclosed that female undergraduates are the major drug abusers in most Nigerian universities.

Disclosing this in Awka, the Public Relations Officer of Anambra State Command of the agency, Mr. Charles Odigie, said that though the situation is unfortunate, it remains a stark reality that the society is facing.He explained that from the command’s recent arrests of drug offenders in the state, female students of a university (name withheld) formed the major offenders.Odigie, who spoke during a one-day symposium tagged “Curbing school dropout and drug abuse”, harped on the need for re-orientation.

He regretted the high rate of drug abuse in tertiary institutions, saying: “It is an indication that students allowed themselves to be influenced in the school environment, where they have more freedom.

“There is high rate of drug abuse in tertiary institutions due to absence of school hostels on campuses, making it difficult to control students who abuse these substances.

“For instance, majority of UNIZIK students live off-campus in lodges where neither the landlords nor caretakers are there to control them. If they are to be within the school premises, the story would have been different.

“Failure of parents to care and monitor their children’s activities in the tertiary institutions is one of the contributory factors to the high rate of social ills in the society. Parents should not to leave the training of their wards to teachers alone.”

While noting that the malaise was more prevalent in a university in Awka, the Anambra NDLEA spokesman identified shisha – a popular local hard drug consumed by youths, using pipes – as the most widely abused by the female students.

Odigie however assured that the agency will continue to sensitise the public on the dangers of drug abuse.

He called on other government agencies and NGOs to tilt their activities towards the sensitisation of the masses on drug abuse, and encourage people to always report cases of abuse to the command.