United Nations Office Of Drugs and Crimes, UNODC, on Monday confirmed that six million Nigerians are living with drug use dependency.
The dangerous statistics was revealed at the opening of the weeklong activities to commemorate this year’s UN day against drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking under the theme: “Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crises”.
The event took place at the Kano Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The Country Representative of UNODC, Mr. Oliver Stolpe urged governments at all levels in Nigeria, candidates for political offices and international partners not to lose sight of the public health crisis caused by drug use in the country.
“Based on the 2017/2018 data, we estimated that close to 6 million persons in Nigeria could be living with a drug use dependency. This creates a massive public health challenge.
“Our key policy asks on this World Drug Day to the Federal and state governments, to the international development partners as well as to the candidates for political office is not to lose sight of the public health crisis caused by drug use.
“What is being invested right now is nowhere near sufficient to cater for the needs of millions of persons living with a drug use dependency and even less so to mount drug use prevention programmes reaching both children in and out of school and providing them and their families with the knowledge and skills to avoid engaging in dangerous drug use and developing drug use disorders.” He stated.
Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) in his open speech revealed that a total of 17, 647 drug offenders and 10 barons have been arrested in the past 17 months with over 2,369 convicted and jailed while more than 11,000 drug users were counselled and treated within the same period.
