The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) is planning a nationwide survey on drug use in Nigeria. The study, when concluded, will be the first of its kind in the country.
Making the disclosure during a courtesy visit to The Guardian yesterday, the project coordinator, UNODC, Glen Prichard, noted that Nigeria was one of the countries that abuse drugs the most.
According to him: “ We have commenced a nationwide survey on illicit drugs. Nigeria is the sixth among the nations where drugs are abused the most. The government should know what priority to place on drugs use.”
He lamented the high rate of stigmatisation of drug users in Nigeria.
“People take drugs for different reasons. There should be law to ensure that people who take drugs do not abuse it. Government should ensure that there are adequate facilities for rehabilitation of drug abusers.”
Prichard, while speaking on the most abused drug in Nigeria and its relation to mental health, noted that drug abuse is different from drug use disorder.
He said the UNODC was working in collaboration with law enforcement agencies in the country to ensure proper access to solutions.
While commending the cordial relationship between the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (), Prichard said Nigeria is a country where much drugs are produced, hence the high possibility to abuse them.
According to the UNODC official, Tramadol seems to be the most abused drug by militants, security agents and youths.
Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, Chukwuemeka Obuah decried the porous nature of the country’s gateways.
He assured that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) was working hard to check the influx of bad foreign elements into the country.
His words: “The UNODC has been a wonderful partner in combating illegal migration and border-related crimes in recent times. The ECOWAS protocol, which allows free movement of persons within the West Africa sub region, makes it difficult to actually chase some of these African brothers away, but the NIS Is working very hard to ensure that our vast borders are well policed.
“The challenge is not peculiar to Nigeria. The NIS personnel are not more that 35,000, it is difficult for this number to man our vast borders. The Service needs adequate funding, logistics and technologies to be able to secure these borders.
“We call the UNODC our ‘guardian angel’ because they are always there whenever we have to deal with illegal migration and drug possession”, he noted.
Speaking on the outrage by cattle herdsmen in recent times, he said: “It is a West African problem, they move across the West African sub-region. What is happening in Nigeria is a peculiar case where the people are violent and attacking communities. I am not in a position to speak on this, but I know that the government is looking into it with a view to finding solutions.”
The country representative of UNODC, Cristina Albertin, revealed there was an ongoing convention on drug trafficking and control.
“The conventions are comprehensive, we look at the severity of the crime and the victims. The UNODC is also working in the area of terrorism prevention and help in building maritime crime law. “We involve the government in our dealings to produce an analytical view on drug trafficking.”
Executive Editor of The Guardian, Mr. Abraham Ogbodo, Executive Head in charge of Content and Business Management, Martins Oloja and other top editors received the team.
