Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State yesterday signed an Executive Order on Public Safety Emergency on Substance Abuse in the state, which prohibits the trafficking and abuse of illicit substances in the state.

Yusuf said the order henceforth outlaws the sale of illicit drugs and unregistered pharmaceuticals without a valid prescription. The executive order, which takes effect immediately, restricts movement across hotspots identified as the epicentre of drug abuse between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m. daily in Kano.

In a related development, Governor Umar Namadi of Jigawa State has signed two executive orders establishing a coordinated framework to combat drug abuse and institutionalise mass mobilisation for societal reorientation.

He described the Executive Orders to establish the Jigawa State Task Force on Drug Abuse Control and the Mass Mobilisation for Social Reorientation initiative as a strategic investment in the future of the state’s youth population and the moral renewal of its communities.

Addressing guests at the signing, including the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), Governor Namadi said the executive orders were deliberate instruments of governance designed to fulfil commitments in his administration’s 12-point agenda, including tackling drug abuse, strengthening local governance and driving positive societal transformation.

Governor Yusuf also inaugurated an Anti-Substance Abuse Taskforce Committee to execute the Public Safety Emergency Order, with Muhuyi Rimingado as chairman, describing drug abuse as a major threat to security and public peace in Kano.

According to him, the committee’s mandates include identifying, mapping, and dismantling all Daba Gang hideouts, illicit drug dens, and territorial enclaves in the state, as well as arresting, detaining, and prosecuting members, sponsors, and financiers of the illicit drug trade.

He stressed that a larger population of youth now abuses all sorts of illicit substances, which currently fuels violent crimes, destroys families, weakens the economy, and undermines social stability.

Meanwhile, Namadi explained that one of the Jigawa orders “establishes a structured campaign against drug abuse by bringing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, community mobilisation, and enforcement support under a coordinated framework.

“The other lends institutional strength to societal reorientation by promoting patriotism, honesty, discipline, respect for the law, civic responsibility, and service to the common good.”

Also, NDLEA Chairman, Marwa, commended Governor Namadi’s support for the agency as unparalleled among Nigeria’s state governments, saying he had provided land for a permanent NDLEA barracks, office accommodation, official residential support for the state commander, and additional assistance to strengthen the agency’s operations in Jigawa.

Disclosing that Jigawa’s estimated drug prevalence rate of about seven per cent remains among the lowest in the country, he expressed confidence that the newly inaugurated task force would help reduce the figure further through prevention, community mobilisation and sustained collaboration.