By Dennis Agbo

The Commander of Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in Enugu state, Mr. Bassey Aniete has said that the drug addicts in the society were neither the enemies of the agency nor that of the society.

Aniete said it was rather the drug barons and peddlers who in their avarice for wealth lure the addicts to patronize their illicit drugs that are the real dangers of the society.

He therefore said that people should sympathize with the drug addicts, whom he said were capable of being rehabilitated and reintegration into the society to become useful again.

Aniete made the disclosure on Friday prelude to the 2021 United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and illicit trafficking.

He further revealed that the command within January and June 2021 arrested 46 suspects made up of 38 males and eight females with seizure of 717.578 kilogrames of cannabis sativa, 132.39 grammes of cocaine, 34.90 grammes of methamphetamine and 81.810 kilogrames of psychotropic substance.

READ ALSO: NDLEA seizes 8,983.5Kg of drugs arrests 286 persons in 11 months

Aniete stated that the command has with the year prosecuted 20 suspects, made up of 16 males and four females, out of which it secured seven convictions, while 45 clients were counselled, rehabilitated and successfully reintegrated into the society.

He said that “the global drug situation is worrisome and Nigeria or indeed Enugu state cannot be separated, both in prevalence and the attendant consequences. Our youths are getting increasingly involved in drug abuse and trafficking which to a large extent has threatened their future growth rate and development.”

Aniete noted that the United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report, 2018, revealed that about 14.3 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64 years had used drugs and appealed to all stakeholders in Enugu state to join hands in tackling the hydra-headed scourge.

Vanguard News Nigeria