A total of 1,289.153 kilograms of different classes of drugs were seized by the Bauchi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) within the past ten months.
The agency was also able to arrest 372 drug offenders and successfully prosecuted and convicted 103 of them with 31 other cases still pending in Court, while 73 drug users were counselled and rehabilitated, majority of them through brief preventions.
The agency commander, Ali Aminu while speaking with journalists in Bauchi said, “It is also worthy of note to mention that the Command discovered and harvested Cannabis farm at Digare, Alkaleri local government of the state in conjunction with 33 Artillery Nigerian Army.”
Aminu stated that they also discovered cannabis farms in Dafa Tuwo village, Darazo LGA, Tsangayar Njeri, Ningi LGA as well as a cannabis farm at Giade town, Giade local government.
He said incidentally, the briefing coincided with the commemoration of the 2023 International Day Against Drug/Substance Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking which is held on 26th June of every year.
“Today, it is no longer news that the world is under siege by the menace of illicit substance abuse and trafficking.
Nigeria is no exception. This year’s theme ‘People First; Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention’ is in furtherance of the whole-of-society approach to taming the drug scourge,” he said.
He therefore advised Nigerians to stop stigmatisation that is discouraging drug users from seeking treatment, a development that has serious negative socio-economic repercussions for individuals and their families.
“Stigmatization and discrimination make recovery and reintegration difficult for drug-dependent users who submit themselves to treatment. And the prevalence of such an attitude is counterproductive to the effort, time and resources invested by governments, institutions, and stakeholders working to contain the drug problem,” he added.
Aminu appreciated the chairman/chief executive officer of NDLEA, Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) for repositioning the agency.
He also appreciated the Bauchi State governor, Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, for his keen interest and immense logistics support to the State Command towards eradicating illicit drug use and trafficking.
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