75% Of Cross River Residents Aged 12-65 Use Illicit Drugs

Deputy commander of operations in the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Cross River State, Victor Bradford, has said 75% of residents of the state aged between 12 and 65 consume illicit and hard drugs.

He spoke yesterday during a sensitisation campaign against illicit drug use in Calabar, where he urged youths to shun drugs, saying they lead to destruction.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP after the campaign organised by the National Association of Seadogs in collaboration with (NDLEA), Bradford warned that youths who failed to listen to this warning would ultimately destroy themselves.

He spoke after the president of the National Association of Seadogs, Jokaina Deck chapter in Calabar, Barr. Lawrence Achuta, led the two organisations on the campaign.

“I am saying 75 percent of people within the age bracket of 12 and 65 use hard drugs probably for status symbol or to make them feel among.

“They use one drug or the other. To the abusers, I say quit taking hard drugs because drug consumption helps no one except destruction.

“You may think you are taking it to get high, getting high adds no value to your life, but destroys you,” he said.

He said the command had destroyed over 30 hectares of marijuana cultivated by a group of individuals in Odukpani local government area in the state a month ago, stressing that it was the reason the agency had the highest number of prosecutions at the Federal High Court in Calabar.

“If you go to the Federal High Court today you would discover that the NDLEA has the highest number of prosecutions there. Due to the proactive nature of the command, its personnel raised a warehouse and confiscated about 2.687 tonnes of Indian hemp in a particular village in Akamkpa local government area.

“We see abusers as the victims of barons and advise them not to have any business to do with them,” he said.