The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and other stakeholders on Tuesday decried that 14.5 percent of Nigerians were using cannabis, cocaine, codeine syrup and others.

Speaking in Abuja at a forum for the eradication of drug abuse and illicit substance among the youth in Nigeria, organised by the Baba-Rabi Foundation held in Abuja, Director, Drug Demand Reduction Directorate, NDLEA, Titus-Awogbuyi Joyce, said the agency’s data showed that 14.3 million Nigerians had taken hard drugs as of 2018.

She said the data showed that one out of four people who used drugs was a woman.

The Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Ikanade Agba, decried the growing incidence of drug abuse in Nigeria.

Represented by his Special Assistant on Inter-Governmental Relations, Abdulrahman Naibi Rajab, the minister said the rising abuse of drugs was affecting national development.

Founder/Chairperson, Baba-Rabi Foundation,Nana Fatima Mede, said no family in Nigeria was insulated from the problem of illicit substance use.

She said this could not be divorced from high crime rate and road traffic accidents.

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.