With teenagers freely abusing and peddling illicit substances in Igboland, concerns are mounting that the menace could worsen crimes and criminalities that are currently unsettling the region. LAWRENCE NJOKU reports that inadequate monitoring and enforcement could spell chaos presently.

At about 11.30 pm in one of the hotels located in the New Layout axis of Enugu, Enugu State, an unusual scuffle ensued in a room checked in by two young boys aged between 18 and 20 years. As the scuffle continued, one of the boys kept calling on the hotel staff to make available a “binding chain.”

The development, which attracted the attention of other guests and hotel staff, led to the room door being forced open, and it was a spectacle to behold. One of the boys had gone berserk after allegedly consuming Methamphetamine (Mkpurummili).

As soon as the door was opened, the offending dude, who had already destroyed the LED television set, air conditioner, and beddings, bolted from the room and started breaking doors and windscreens of vehicles parked within the hotel until he was overpowered after receiving a deep cut on his forehead.

At the Parklane Hospital, where he was rushed to, his acquaintance confirmed that they bought the illicit substance from the neighbourhood before settling in the hotel for that night.
Recently, a viral video that circulated online revealed three teenage drug dealers- Ifeoma, Nnedi, and Ekene, aged 16, 18, and 19, respectively, who were apprehended by vigilante operatives at Oba, in Nnewi, Anambra State. The girls who traded in Methamphetamine, Loud and local variants like Monkey Tail, claimed that they dropped out of school to join the business.

During interrogation, they claimed that one Okeke, from Okpuno Village, in Awka, was their supplier in the business, which they have been doing in the last two years using uncompleted buildings as their hideouts.

Ifeoma, who gave a vivid account of how the drug works after consumption, especially mkpulummili, said: “It gives me extra strength and with it, I can do anything. I feel high after taking it.”

Asked why she decided to go into such a trade, she said, “I picked it because it is easy to sell as many young people patronise it.”

Shortly after the was were apprehended, the Anambra State Police Command arrested six persons, including a female, over drug abuse in Isuaniocha, Awka North Local Council. The suspects, whose ages ranged between 19 and 25 years, were reportedly caught with large quantities of dried leaves suspected to be hard drugs and other incriminating substances .

Also, in March this year, the wife of Abia State governor, Priscilla Otti, partnered with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to intervene in the case of Glory Benjamin, who allegedly suffered from a drug-induced mental health crisis.

She was picked up from the streets of Asaba, Delta State, and medical experts who examined her confirmed that she was suffering from drug-induced mental illness.

In June this year, the NDLEA in Enugu State said it seized 1,257.213 kilograms of assorted illicit substances between June 2024 and June 2025. The state commander of the agency, Abel Wadahi, said the seizure included 977.711kg of Cannabis Sativa, 6.462kg of Methamphetamine, 70.182kg of Tramadol, and 0.734kg of Cocaine with an arrest of 446 drug traffickers, including 399 males and 47 females.

He stated that 78 cases involving 66 males and 12 females are still pending in court. Most of those involved in the act were teenagers and those in their early 20s.

In April this year, the NDLEA in Ebonyi State announced the seizure of 55.947 kilograms of illicit substances and arrested 112 suspects. The command listed the seized drugs as 43.582 kg of Cannabis Sativa and 0.004 kg of Tramadol, 11.2kg of Monkey tail, and 0.054kg of Methamphetamine, among others, while the suspects, whose ages ranged between 16 and 60, comprised 85 males and 27 females.

In December last year, the NDLEA in Abia State announced the seizure of 398.7221 kilograms of a cocktail of drugs across the 17 local councils of the state.

The drugs were 274.132 kilograms of cannabis sativa, heroin of 0.3771 kilograms, cocaine of 0.4517 kilograms, and Mkpurummili weighing 0.4363 kilograms, as well as Tramadol 21.949 kilograms, among others.

Perturbed by the trend, the Imo State Government, through the Special Adviser on Narcotics and Illicit Drugs Monitoring, Ezechukwu Obonna, issued a stern statement earlier in the month, calling on all youth leaders across the state to take immediate action against illicit drug consumption and trafficking in their communities.

Last week, Obonna had taken the fight to the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, where he spoke to the students on the critical relationship between drug abuse and risky sexual behaviours.

He emphasised that substance abuse often exacerbates risky behaviours, including unprotected sexual activities, which can lead to several health consequences, urging them to avoid drugs.

He stated that the state had perfected plans to open a dedicated hotline for reports on drug issues, stressing that the aim was to ultimately ensure a drug-free state.

He added that the government remained resolute in its mission to protect the health, safety, and future of its youth and residents.

Findings by The Guardian show that the rate of substance abuse in the region was becoming alarming, and that it is gradually penetrating the secondary schools.

Mostly hit by the ugly trend are the rural communities in the region, where substances are locally produced and sold with ease in various markets and homes. Also involved in the drug value chain (as both users and couriers) are some motorcycle and tricycle operators, as well as those who engage in other menial jobs in society.

The Executive Director, David Folaranmi Foundation, David Folaranmi, lent credence to the assertion when he told The Guardian that inadequate monitoring and enforcement were fueling the trend in rural communities, adding that a 14-year-old young adult was being rehabilitated for substance disorder in their facility in Enugu State.

“The situation is terrible; we are talking about prevalence, especially in rural communities. It will shock you to know that in Enugu State, we have the highest prevalence in the South-East region of Nigeria. It is quite alarming that the age of substance use has reduced to nine and ten years old in the region”, he stated

Falaromi, who is the Coordinator of the International Society for Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP), added that substances have been found to become a menace in the region, having affected several youths in very severe ways, stressing that efforts should be geared towards tackling it.

“Some people have called it a pandemic, which is not far from the truth. So, we have come up with this organisation to partner with larger organisations to see how we can join hands to reduce, to the barest minimum, drug use in our society.

“We have been having symposia where we get young persons, educate them, and empower them with the tools to say no to substances when it is offered to them. The truth is that these things are going to be offered to young people, no matter what you do, whether in school or their surroundings. So, we must empower them with the accurate tools to say no when they see these things, and through that, we will be reducing drug intake in society,” he stated.

Dr Innocent Izuchukwu Ujah of the Department of Applied Biochemistry, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) said that he has observed an increasing abnormal behaviour among youths of the zone, such as increased violent crime, early marriages, and school dropouts, attributing it partly to illicit drug use.

He stated that it was common to see young boys and girls suffering from mental illness, weight loss, liver damage, seizures, among others, even as some of them contemplate suicide as a result of illicit drugs.

He maintained that the “feel good” sensation that drugs provide against economic factors such as poverty, unemployment, limited access to education, and peer influence has increased drug abuse in the region.

Ujah’s position was amplified by Mrs Gerald Ogu, an advocate of a drug-free society, who attributed the increased crime rate among the youths in the region to drug use.

Mrs Ogu, the Director of Youth for Greater Advancement Centre (YGAC) in Owerri, Imo State, insisted that the increasing rate of kidnapping, killing, armed robbery, among others in the region was a result of drug use by the youths.

“They are no longer normal when they consume these substances. That is why somebody will wake up, pick up a knife, and butcher another individual as if he were butchering an animal. Our youths live and occupy bushes after inhaling these illicit substances, but it is rather sad that even with improved sensitisation, many are becoming victims.

“Our findings show that there are various locations where these drugs are sold in the region. It is everywhere, in fact, very rampant. Mkpulummili, Canadian Loud, Indian Hemp, and what have you are simply everywhere. Go to the markets in the region, you will discover that even most places that are under lock and key in the guise of warehouses are stocked with hard drugs,” she stated.

When he led other officials of the NDLEA to participate in an advocacy walk organised by the MTN Foundation in June this year, a deputy commander in charge of Operations and Intelligence, John Ada Oga, stated that the agency participated in the exercise following the increase in drug abuse among youths.

He emphasised that the agency had continued to reach out to schools and campaign against drug use, following the discovery from integrity tests, which indicated a rising number of cases of drug abuse, especially among the youth.

“For instance, this year alone, we have got about 400,000 people involved in drugs in Enugu State, within the teenage age brackets of mostly youths. That is why youths are the integral part of our campaign, and that is why we are reaching out to them so that they can mediate between the older and younger ones to avoid this drug abuse,” he stated.