Drug abuse, trafficking threat to national security – Minister

Minister of State for Education, Goodluck Nanah Opiah, has warned against the effects of drug abuse saying, it poses a threat to national security.

He therefore, stressed the need for all hands to be on deck to check the menace.

The minister stated this during a sensitisation work against drug abuse organised by Drug Free World Africa (DFWA), a non-profit International-African Organisation in Abuja.

The walk had children, men and women, marched through Utako Market and ended at Jabi lake.

The minister who maintained that drugs abuse and illicit trafficking is a national security issue, said more awareness programmes to educate the public on its effects are needed to check the menace.

Opiah, represented by his Special Assistant on security strategy and public relations, Bishop Johnson, said: “We would always have an open door policy for anyone that has any kind of initiative that will help reduce drug and illicit drug abuse, particularly as it relates to our educational institutions.

“So the doors are always open for any organisation that would want the ministry to collaborate with. There is no better way the abuse of drugs more than educational awareness, taking the message to the people for them to understand the dangers of abusing drugs to themselves, community and family”.

Okereke, noted that the DFWA is duly registered with headquarters in 23 states of Nigeria with their respective coordinates to fight against drugs abuse.

She said: “Drug abuse is highly ranked as a global issue militating against peace, order and national stability. The hallucinating power of drug users and abusers makes them to act under the impart of being above and the jurisdiction of our legal system and frame work.

“The Nigerian Dangerous Drugs Act enacted in 1935 was the first indigenous drug law but between this time and present day Nigeria species and quantity of drugs in circulation has changed much from what it used to be, normally limited to tobacco, kolanut, and alcohol”.

She further said that most recent campaign march against drug abuse by DFWA in Imo state attracted up to 10,000 participants including School Children, and the highlight of the epic events was the renouncement of hard-drugs by over 1,650 individuals.

In his remarks, the Officer sensitisation, at National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Gbenga Owonubi, asked Nigerians to report cases of drugs abuse and humans trafficking to responsible agencies, adding that all hands most be on desk to sensitise the general public on effect of drugs abuse.