….Says N3.6bn hard drugs seized

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

KANO—Alarmed by the audacity of illicit drug dealers in his state, Kano State Governor, Dr. Musa Kwankwaso, has warned the barons to flee the state or be crushed.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Vanguard, the governor lamented that certain elements were hiding in the state and trading on hard drugs detrimental to the society.

Kwankwaso warned that he would not allow any room for drug barons to operate in Kano as long as he remained the governor of the state and asked the natives to expose those engaged in the illegality.

He disclosed that drugs worth about N4 billion had so far been seized from the barons, and warned that there would be no hiding place for the perpetrators, as security men had been ordered to pursue and flush them out.

“That is why we are fighting drug barons in Kano. We are dealing with them here in Kano and will continue to deal with them. And I am sure they will lose the battle. In fact, they are losing the battle because every day, every week, we are confiscating tonnes of illicit drugs.

“At the last count, we destroyed over N600 million and before then we destroyed over N3 billion worth of illicit drugs. We keep on working and we have teams that are going round with a clear instruction from us that no corner in Kano should serve as a black spot.

“That is why we are asking the people of the state not to go into illicit drugs.

The governor said that as a politician who needed the support and cooperation of the electorate, he did not require the financial or moral support of drug barons, whom, he described as rebels and enemies of the people.

“I don’t want a kobo from drug barons, who are very useless people and enemies of the people.

“We are treating them as enemies of the people of Kano State. I have told them that anybody in the state, who thinks he is important, must not go into such illicit business,” he said.

He regretted, however, that the beneficiaries of the illicit trade were unhappy with his fight against the business but expressed happiness that the vast majority were satisfied with his actions to eliminate the vice.