Nigeria losing battle against Indian hemp

At the Lagos State Command of the NDLEA, the state commander, Alhaji Aliyu Sule said his command carried out a raid on major drug flash points on May 22 to rid the state of criminals. His men raided Ido motor park, Oyingbo Railway Terminal and NNPC Ejigbo area of the metropolis that led to the […]

At the Lagos State Command of the NDLEA, the state commander, Alhaji Aliyu Sule said his command carried out a raid on major drug flash points on May 22 to rid the state of criminals. His men raided Ido motor park, Oyingbo Railway Terminal and NNPC Ejigbo area of the metropolis that led to the arrest of three suspected drug dealers and made a seizure of 122.65 kilograms of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis. Commander Sule gave the names of the suspects arrested during the raid as Gambo Amadu, a 28-year-old caught with 90.3 kilograms, Fidelis Mike, a 19-year-old nabbed with 7.35 kilograms and Diana Gabriel, a 22-year-old caught with 25 kilograms. The suspects who spoke to Weekly Trust from their cell rooms gave different reasons for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking.

Gambo Ahmadu was nabbed at Ido area with 90.3 kilograms of cannabis. He claimed to be a commercial motorcyclist before he joined a drug cartel as a security guard for the cartel at a warehouse. He is said to be working with one Isa. He said: “I am an Okada rider. I came to Lagos in 1993 and was introduced into the cannabis trade two years ago. My duty is to protect the cannabis warehouse we are using to store the weeds. I do not sell drugs. I only work with one Isa but at the time of my arrest, Isa had gone out. Isa is yet to be arrested. He is the dealer. I am only his employee.” Fidelis Mike said he is a musician but has nobody to sponsor him. He used to hawk snacks before friends introduced him into cannabis smoking. He claimed to have been selling cannabis less than two months ago. He said: “I can sing very well but I have no helper. I used to hawk but friends lured me into cannabis sales. While selling I can make N500 to N1,000 profit but with cannabis I can make a minimum of N3,500 gain a day. I attended Ladipo primary school in Lagos but after my graduation in 1996, I could not further my education because I lost my mother and my dad is bedridden.”

The only female suspect nabbed in the raid operation is Diana Gabriel. She was arrested at Oyingbo area and 25 kilograms of cannabis recovered in the house she was sleeping. She claimed to be a user and that she only visited her girlfriend. “I do runs (follow men) and attend club. I also smoke weed (Indian hemp) but I don’t sell. I live with my father at Maryland. I went to visit my girl friend who sells weed when I was arrested,” she said.

Nigeria’s multiple positions as one of the leading producers of Cannabis in the World and a major illicit drug transit route in the West and Central African sub-region and also as one of the fastest developing drugs depots in Africa has earned the country the status of one of the major Indian hemp consumer country in recent years. That might have contributed to the growing and unending crisis and criminality in the country which has led to destruction of properties and loss of lives.

The 2011 World drug report states that cannabis remains by far the most widely produced and consumed illicit substance globally. Although data on cannabis are limited, in 2009, between 2.8 per cent and 4.5 percent of the world population aged between 15 and 64 years, totalling 125 and 203 million people had used cannabis at least once in the past year. Illicit drug production in Africa, according to the report, is mainly focused on cannabis. While cannabis resin is mainly produced in Morocco, cannabis herb is produced all over Africa. Information on drug use in Africa is extremely limited, given the lack of scientific surveys in the region. Available information suggests that cannabis use is widespread, and that other drugs are used as well, notably in urban areas in Nigeria like Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Benin city and the rest. Africa poses one of the greatest emerging threats with regard to production and consumption of cannabis which is on the increase despite persistent efforts by operatives of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to check the menace. Nigeria’s brand of Cannabis is rated among the best in the World for direct consumption through smoking, tea, soup or by taking it as herb. Although cannabis herb continues to be trafficked throughout Africa, seizures tend to be concentrated in a small number of countries. In 1990, when NDLEA commenced operations, total arrests was just 464, convictions was 13 while total drugs seized stood at 1,142.45 kilograms. These figures rose to 6,708 arrests, 1,509 convictions and 178,120.73 kilograms of seized drugs in 2010. The agency, through its `Operation Burn the Weed’ program, has succeeded in tracing cannabis plantations and destroyed them before harvest. Cannabis farm destruction though highly laborious has been aggressive particularly in major producing States of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Oyo, Ekiti, Ogun and Osun. Between 2006 and 2010, 1,708 hectares of cannabis farmland have been destroyed. Seized and forfeited drug exhibits publicly destroyed since 2006 amounts to a whopping 680,897.1 kilograms. Over 80 percent of all the victims and suspected drug peddlers are youths. Chairman and Chief Executive officer of NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade expressed concern over increasing involvement of youths in drug trafficking and consumption. He said there are more youths in cannabis cultivation, consumption, trading and exportation which he said spell doom for the future generation. He said the agency has reserved a day for youths’ sensitization during the World drugs day celebration. Commenting, the Director General of (NDLEA), Mr. Femi Ajayi said, “The decision to set aside a day for the youths is based on the need to curtail the ugly trend of youth involvement in drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Within the last decade, the involvement of youths has taken a wide and frightening dimension. Adolescents and youths of both sexes and between the ages of 13-35 years constitute the high risk group for drug abuse. Available statistics show that more than 70 percent of drug abuse associated health problems presented to hospitals and drug abuse treatment and rehabilitation centres are cases that affect youths.” The Director General attributed gruesome political killings and destruction of property in the country to drug abuse. The NDLEA boss stressed that drug control is very vital and remains a panacea to the orgy of pogrom and wanton destruction turning people into refugees in their own communities. According to him, “Pogroms, ethnic cleansing, genocides and mass murders decreed by tyrants and carried out by mercenaries have been linked to hard drugs. The actors have been shown to act under the heavy influence of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances”. He further enumerated the consequences of drug abuse to include political instability, national insecurity, prostitution and crime, marital crisis and drug related accidents among others. “Drugs have disruptive and destructive effects on political stability and national security. All hard drugs are notorious for their effects on the Central Nervous System. They distort reasoning and judgment, remove inhibition and cause psychosis. Curbing the menace of drugs now is an investment for the preservation of both the present and future generation from destruction.  “A lot of notable people, musicians, actors, and athletes are known to have been destroyed by drug abuse. Some are rendered socially useless; some lost their mental and physical wellbeing while many others have died as a result of drug overdose. Some died as a result of suicide and misadventure under the influence of drugs,” the DG charged. The Director of Department of Policy and Implementation of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Education Secretariat, Mrs. Rosemary Umana said she observed cases of drug abuse among secondary school students. She called on students to shun drug abuse and concentrate on building their career. She advised parents to team up with teachers in monitoring the attitude of their wards and children to prevent them from drug abuse.

At Lokoja the capital of Kogi state, the State NDLEA Commander, Alhaji Idris Bello said his men on patrol duty recently discovered 56.6 kilograms of compressed cannabis inside the engine compartment of a moving car even as it recorded the arrest of 43 suspected drug dealers in the state. He said a total of 2,827 kilograms of dried weeds that tested positive for cannabis were seized from the drug suspects.  Commander Idris Bello said the location of Kogi State as a link between the cannabis producing states of the south and States in the north has placed more demand on the command. He also noted that most of the seizures were drugs on transit intercepted by his men on motorized patrol of major highways and link roads leading to northern States. He said the command has secured the conviction of nine of the accused persons charged to court while other cases are pending. The driver of the car with drugs allegedly found in the engine, 39-year-old Mowobi Anthony told Weekly Trust that he adopted the strange mode of drug concealment to evade arrest. He said NDLEA operatives arrested him along Ogori Magongo-Okene road in the State on his way to Abuja. He disclosed that he was betrayed by the offensive odor of the weeds coming from the engine compartment, adding, “When the car boot was examined by them, nothing was found but the strong smell of the drug sold me out. I have learnt my lesson. This is the hand of God telling me to stop the drug trade. I regret everything now because what I have been doing is bad. It was a bad day for me and I hope they will release me soon because I am now a new person. I reside in Sabongida-Ora Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.”

Worried by the effect of cannabis consumption in Edo state, Governor Adams Oshiomhole said he is working out modalities to address the problem of cannabis proliferation. Oshiomhole who admitted the NDLEA into the State Security Council stressed that fighting the drug war will reduce crime in the society. While re-echoing the call for a drug free society, stakeholders at the public destruction of 79,700 kilograms of forfeited drug exhibits valued at N569 million in Benin City were unanimous in their call for the scarcity of illicit drugs particularly cannabis which is locally produced and abused in the country. Edo State is the forth in the series of exhibit destruction carried out by the anti-drug agency this year. This event will bring the total quantity of drugs destroyed since January to 134,412.598 kilograms. The Agency had previously destroyed drugs in three States this year. At Lokoja, Kogi State 10,001.26 kilograms were destroyed. Akure in Ondo State was next with 36,740.52 kilograms while in Badagry, Lagos State, 7,970.8182 kilograms were equally destroyed.

Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna State also expressed concern over the level of youth’s involvement in drug abuse. The governor who jointly supervised the public destruction of 11,421 kilograms of narcotics mainly cannabis in Zaria on Wednesday June 29, said that the State government is collaborating with the anti-drug agency to tackle drug abuse among youths in the state. Governor Yakowa who was represented by Colonel Gabriel Dangana Mamman (retired), who doubles as Coordinator of Operation Yaki in the State and Special Assistant to the Governor on Security said that drug barons must be dealt with in accordance with anti-drug laws. “No responsible government will fold its hands and watch its youths who represent the future generations wallow in servitude and addiction to illicit drugs,” he said. He noted that Kaduna had long included the NDLEA in its Security Council in recognition of the importance of drug control. Commenting on the effect of illicit drugs, a retired Pharmacist, Yaya Abubakar said drug abuse is largely responsible for cases of mental disorder among people, adding, “Over 80 percent of the mad people you see on the streets are either drug addicts or people that abuse prescribed drugs. When you try to take prescribed drugs beyond what is recommended for you, you are over stretching your brain and that is capable of damaging it. It is worst when you try to take illicit drugs not meant for human consumption. Yes, most drug victims that are concentrated at designated centres are administered with illicit drugs within the period of their cure. A cocaine addicted victim cannot be stopped from taking cocaine abruptly. It will damage the brain more. While the cure is going on, he will be given limited quantity of the illicit drug he is used to until after sometimes when he is cured.”

NDLEA Chairman, Ahmadu Giade also noted that the abuse of substances that are not restricted is posing a serious challenge in the country. “It is disheartening that children of age 13 are among drug users in the Nigeria. We are also deeply concerned about the abuse of uncontrolled substances such as rubber solution, nail polish cleaner, lizard waste and petrol that are available and freely accessible. The abuse of cough syrups with codeine content and several pharmaceutical drugs are equally disturbing. We also have it on record that some people even sniff pit toilets in the State in a bid to get high. This is sad. Drug abuse is bad, injurious and must be condemned by all.”Giade said the agency has over 40 counseling/rehabilitation centers all over the country with at least one in each state. He said a total of 3,589 victims were admitted out of which 16 whose cases were very serious had been referred to some hospitals for proper medication. At the moment, Giade said there are 191 victims in their rehabilitation centres all over the country with Bauchi having the highest number of victims with 45 in its care and Cross Rivers having 42. The agency boss disclosed that 174,661.59 kilograms of cannabis were seized by the agency in Nigeria in 2010 and 98,580.876 kilograms of cannabis were seized between January to May this year alone. He said 593.22 hectares of cannabis farms were destroyed in 2010 and between January and May this year alone, 93 hectares of cannabis were destroyed in the country.