By AbdulRaheem Aodu
Kaduna
Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has called for support from all stakeholders, governments, policy makers, lawmakers, traditional, religious, opinion and education leaders in its bid to reduce insurgency in the country by ridding the country of drug abuse.
“Drug abuse is at the root of every crime, insurgency and insecurity bedevilling Nigeria including Boko Haram, and it is only by reducing the intake of illicit drugs among youth that root cause of insurgency can be addressed, academic and author,” Dr Bala Takaya has said.
Addressing the 2014 NDLEA Commander’s Summit yesterday in Kaduna, the NDLEA board member said stopping the use of illicit drugs in the country was a fight for all as it affected everybody directly or indirectly.
“Drug abuse is at the root of every crime bedevilling this country particularly Boko Haram. Will any sensible human being accept to take up arms to kill and destroy with the arm killing the person; will anybody go robbing and killing on the highway, carrying out acts of hooliganism and riots without the influence of drugs?”
Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero of Kaduna state told the summit that the Kaduna state government has sent a draft bill to the House of Assembly against the consumption of unconventional substances, while the state government is addressing unemployment to ensure that the state is rid of drug abuse and use of illicit drugs.
Represented by his Chief of Staff, Alhaji Yahaya Aminu, the governor tasked the summit to make appropriate steps to enable NDLEA arrest and prosecute offenders.
Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Malam Ahmadu Giade, called for new approach to the war against drugs to combat the new modes of drug concealment by drug syndicates.
He said: “Drugs are now industrially concealed. Drug barons are constantly devising new ways of smuggling their drugs to markets around the world.
“In the past 10 years, we have observed that cannabis is concealed in foodstuff, domestic and industrial goods. Drug barons also use cars with fake official plate number, bullion vans, trucks and tankers in conveying cannabis.”
He added: “The crisis between the state governors of the Peoples Democratic Party and their senators is an internal affair of their party and it shouldn’t have been allowed to affect running of the upper chamber of the legislature.
“I sympathise with my colleagues from the PDP where they find themselves, but some of us had told many of them before now that this is going to happen. Some of us do things that people in this country don’t appreciate until after they have left the scene. I know and you can go and check the record, personally what I did to prevent this situation in 2011. It was the same situation. I was the chairman Governors Forum then.
“The PDP went for delegate election by the time they finished the exercise no senator was coming back. The late president Yar’Adua called by that time to talk to the governors and save the situation. This same problem; I moved in and summoned an emergency meeting of all the governors.
“We worked till very late practically begging some. I used my position, relationship and experience to get fine agreement with the governors at that time to see that one senator in each of the PDP states come back. One used his relationship with them and the respect they have for one and we got the deal. It was the deal that brought back some the senators then.
“It was the deal that even brought back our Senator Simon Ajibola from Kwara South here. Before that delegate Ajibola had gone. He had done two terms and as far as people here were concerned the thing should go to another part of the district. I now said how can I be the chairman of governors’ forum who had told all my colleagues to bring back at least a senator.