The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said about 370,000 residents of Adamawa State are users of hard drugs,
The state Commander of the NDLEA, Femi Agboalu who made the disclosure, said the figure makes the state the third worst affected in the North East.
Agboalu spoke in Yola at a brainstorming session of the state Drug Abuse Control Committee held on Wednesday at the office of the Deputy Governor, Chief Crowther Seth, expressing the regret that drug abuse remained in the state despite efforts of the NDLEA and other stakeholders.
Raye24reporters, reports that authorities have long expressed fear that hard drugs were feeding crime and terrorism around the Northeast, of which Adamawa is incidentally the third worst affected state.
The state NDLEA boss who did not mention the other states badly hit by drug misuse said the situation would have been worse in Adamawa State but for strategies of the NDLEA, including the agency’s national drug law control master plan.
He listed the strategies to include drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.
He commended the state government for its own initiatives against drug abuse.
With Deputy Governor Crowther Seth as the Chairman, the state Drug Abuse Control Committee, inaugurated by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri last month, June 24, is designed to complement the Federal Government’s NDLEA in tackling the use of illicit drugs around the state.
In his opening remark at the Drug Control Committee meeting, the Deputy Governor described drug abuse as a killer of destiny, adding that drugs end all dreams.
He reiterated the need for youths to desist from drugs and other substance abuses, adding that the drug use control initiative of the state has demonstrated a political will by the Fintiri administration to end the menace for a greater Adamawa.
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