Drug abuse victim narrates ordeal, says she almost committed suicide

A teenager, who was a victim of drug abuse but is now convalescing, has narrated how she started taking drugs when she was 13 years old and in junior secondary school. The teenager, who relayed her experience yesterday behind the camera at an MTN Foundation’s event on drug abuse in Lagos, recalled that she was […]

A teenager, who was a victim of drug abuse but is now convalescing, has narrated how she started taking drugs when she was 13 years old and in junior secondary school.

The teenager, who relayed her experience yesterday behind the camera at an MTN Foundation’s event on drug abuse in Lagos, recalled that she was influenced by a friend who made her to believe that consuming drugs would propel her to achieve her goals.

But, as she said, it was a different ball game when she got used to taking drugs as she usually behaved irrationally anytime she consumed psychotropic substances.

“We used to take tramadol, codeine and cough syrup, which we bought from a pharmacist, a lady. I so got used to them that my aunt drove me away from home. By this time, I had dropped out of school. I began living with my grandma but I couldn’t be happy. My grandma would abuse me several times. There was a lot of depression and low esteem.

“When I took drugs, I became very active and would want to fight anybody. I can do a lot of nasty things. I would look at the mirror and be laughing when there was nothing funny,” she said.

The girl, in an emotion-laden voice, revealed that she almost lost her life to the effects of drugs. “I attempted committing suicide.

Whenever I took drugs, I wouldn’t eat. I could stay a week without eating or sleeping,” she said.

She also recalled that as a teenager of less than 18 years, she dated a 32-year-old man, adding, “I always felt like doing what big people do. I felt I was above 40. I can talk to anybody far older than me.

There was this rebellious spirit in me I felt whenever I took drugs.”

The girl, who is now into shoe and bag making, said she felt a lot saner now and would soon be going for software engineering.

The MTN Foundation, through its Youth Empowerment cause, had at yesterday’s event launched its Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) to partner with relevant bodies to fight the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.