National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has raised serious alarmover the growing involvement of women, housewives, and elderly men in the coded trading and trafficking of illicit drugs within Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.
Kwara State Commander, Fatimah Popoola, who spoke in the local Yoruba language, alongside key partners, raised the alarm during a sensitisation exercise held in one of the communities in the state capital. The NDLEA says it has received numerous complaints about the disturbing trend, describing it as a grave threat that must be urgently addressed to safeguard the future of the youth.
Popoola explained that drug abuse is closely linked to criminal activities such as banditry, terrorism, and other forms of violence. She stressed that tackling the menace requires sustained collaboration between the NDLEA and other critical stakeholders across the state.
Also speaking, the Global Coordinator of the Ilorin Women Association, Professor Aishat Gobir, described drug abuse as an epidemic that has reached alarming levels, affecting even very young children of both sexes.
In his remarks, an anti-drug ambassador, Nasir Abdulkadri, lamented what he described as the rising culture of drug abuse in Nigeria, worsened by poor parenting. He called on Islamic clerics to declare a state of emergency on drug abuse in Ilorin and to intensify sermons against the menace, especially during the forthcoming Ramadan.
The NDLEA and its partners jointly appealed to parents particularly mothers as well as religious and traditional leaders, to unite in finding lasting solutions to drug abuse in order to rescue and secure the future of the younger generation.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
