NDLEA Impounds 2.88mKg Of Drugs …Cannabis, Highest Abused Substance

The  National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said it seized 2,880,192.96kg of conventional and non-conventional narcotic drugs between 2000 and 2010.

The agency’s 2010 annual report made available to newsmen in Abuja, stated that cannabis topped the list of interdicted drugs with 2,854,477.97 kg.

Further breakdown showed that cocaine came second with 17,233.24kg while non-conventional drug followed with 7,603.18kg as heroin trailed with 879.91 kg.

The report said that the largest interdiction of 536,753.48 kg of drug was made in 2003 while the least interdiction was in 2004 when only 68,759.31kg was interdicted.

Similarly, the agency made the largest interdiction of 535,593.75kg of cannabis in 2003, while the least interdiction of 68,310.07kg was made in 2004.

It said under  non-conventional drug, the agency intercepted 2,550.622 kg in 2010 being the highest seizure in a year of the period of the report and only 88.72 kg in 2005.

The report listed non-conventional drug as “tipex, gasoline, lizard excreta, zakami, a wild plant found mostly in the north, rubber solution, sniffing of pit latrine which contain codeine, cough syrup and goskolo”.

It said goskolo was a concoction of chemical substances and was harmful to the body.

The report further disclosed that the interdiction was made from 51,954 drug dealers comprising of 48,726 male and 3,226 female.

According to the report, during the period under review, the agency filed 13,740 cases against the dealers, out of which it won 13,655 and lost only 85.

The  most commonly abused drugs in the country are cannabis, cocaine and heroin, with cannabis taking the lead, the NDLEA report states.

According to the report,  the problem of drug abuse in the country cuts across age, sex and socio-economic class.

The report, covering the period 2000-2010 and made available to newsmen, however, indicates that men topped the list of cannabis abusers.

“Drug abuse among Nigerians is predominantly a male affair. Most patients on admission for drug-related problems in the treatment centres across the country are mostly cannabis sativa abusers, and are predominantly males. Most women who consume alcohol or smoke cigarette, for instance, do so occasionally and in private because the Nigeria society still does not tolerate such habit among women,” the report said.

The report also shows that the abuse of psychotropic substances such as tranquillisers and stimulants is on the increase among long distance drivers and young people, it said.

“A total of 48,728 male persons have been arrested between 2000 and 2010 compared to 3,226 females.”

It expresses dismay at the increasing involvement of youths in drug abuse, trafficking and cultivation, pointing out that seven out of 10 arrests made during the period of the report were young people aged between 17 and 35.

“Most people first tried drugs when they were in secondary school, especially between the ages of 13 and 19 years. However, after this period of experimentation, a relatively good number of them continue to take drugs on a regular basis. Most of them started by abusing alcohol and cigarettes when they were teenagers and shortly afterwards progressed to taking illicit drugs like cannabis, heroin and cocaine on a more regular basis.”

The report describes alcohol and cigarettes as “gateway drugs”.

On the cultivation of cannabis, the report says that the South-West zone has the most fertile soil for its cultivation in the country, with Ondo State accounting for more than 80 per cent.

It, however, notes that four out of every 10 persons arrested for cultivation of cannabis in the country come from Kwale community in Delta.

“The people from the South-South had the earliest exposure to the cultivation of the weed, hence their migration to some of the states in the South-West to ply the illicit trade. The North-West and South-West ranked highest in drug abuse followed by the South-South, North-Central, North-East and South-East,” the report adds.

In a related development, the NDLEA says the discovery of alternative substances posed a challenge to its efforts at preventing drug abuse in the country.

According to its 2010 annual report, which was made available to newsmen, users derive the same feeling, they get from conventional drugs such as Cannabis, Cocaine and Heroin.

“There is wide spread abuse of these non-conventional substances in the North West, North East and North Central region of Nigeria. Abusers find the use of non-conventional substances very convenient and personal without arousing much suspicion,” the report said.

It said Zakami, a wild plant, for example, was mostly found in the northern part of the country, and users turned to them because they were not listed as banned substances, hence they were least afraid of being arrested as there was no legislation to prosecute them.

It also said that users abused them because they were available, cheaper and on account of their religious belief which banned the use of “alcohol or other gate way drugs.”

It noted that the control of the substances posed peculiar challenge as there was no legislation banning their possession and production.

“Efforts are, however, being made by the Agency to determine the real chemical composition, preparatory to proposing a legislation that will ban them and get them listed under prohibited substances,” the report said.

Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi (right) on an inspection of the new model secondary school in Etche. With him is Prof. Leslie Obiorah and a team member of Educamp Solutions Limited, Monday.