Youth drug abuse: Has Kano lost the war?

At 10, he was already doing drugs. Aminu Magaji, popularly known as Mai-Bera, now 27 years old has been in the drugs business for 17 years. His late friend, Baba-Ali introduced him to the drug world. His regular base is the Church road by Yoruba road junction in Sabon Gari. Despite his diminutive status, other […]

At 10, he was already doing drugs. Aminu Magaji, popularly known as Mai-Bera, now 27 years old has been in the drugs business for 17 years. His late friend, Baba-Ali introduced him to the drug world. His regular base is the Church road by Yoruba road junction in Sabon Gari. Despite his diminutive status, other drug addicts fear and respect him. Reason: Apart from abusing drugs he is also a peddler and many of them rely on him for survival. “I have been doing drugs for 17 years, he boasted. My friend introduced me into it before he died. I like Codeine syrup, though sometimes I take Cocaine, but I prefer Tutoline. Do you know these syrups?  They are what I take every day, and I don’t have any problem with that.”
When asked if he would want to be taken to the Kiru Reformatory Home for help, he said “Who told you I need help, and why would anybody take me to Kiru? Altine is  22 years old .When she was cornered at her regular joint at Mai- Rabo Hotel, Aitken road in Sabon Gari, she also told our correspondent how she got into drugs  “My boyfriend, Musa introduced me to drugs.  I don’t smoke Indian hemp and I don’t take alcohol because I am a Muslim. What I take is Codeine or Tutoline syrup. Sometimes I have difficulties in buying them, but my boyfriend always buys them for me. I take the syrups to make me feel cool and relaxed.”
Currently, there are many youths on the streets of Kano walking about aimlessly, because they are under the influence of the medicaments they abuse regularly as drugs. There is hardly any area of the metropolis that is free of people who are addicted to drugs. Unfortunately, majority of them are youths, mainly teenagers from the age of 12 and above. They are commonly seen with used sachets of pure water or rags containing rubber solution stuck to their mouths. Many others are addicted to Cannabis, Tutoline syrup, Tramadol tablets, Rephnol, Codeine syrup, Suck and Die, Packaline ,Indian hemp and a host of other intoxicants. Their havens are: Zoo road, Church road and other black spots in Sabon Gari, Dan Agundi, Kofar Naisa, Fagge, Gwale, and Badawa. 
From 2012 to 2015 the Kano State Government had destroyed illicit drugs worth over N5 billion. The last of such exercise was carried out in December last year and that made it the 14th  time  that drugs worth hundreds of millions of naira would be destroyed by government at the premises of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kano. The drugs were intercepted and confiscated by the State’s Task Force on Fake and Counterfeit Drugs, Consumer Protection Council, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Hisbah board. They constituted mainly those drugs that are commonly abused by the youths and some house wives in the state.   

Due to the growing cases of drug abuse particularly among the youth, Kano was rated highest among states with similar cases in the country. The State Deputy Governor, Professor Hafiz Abubakar, during the 13th episode of the destruction of illicit drugs at the NDLEA premises, expressed regret that despite government efforts at tackling drug issues in the state, Kano still has the highest number of drug abuse cases in the country. He said government was worried about the growing cases of illicit drugs, foods and unwholesome drinks being brought into Kano from other parts of the country “Government would not relent in its efforts to check the nefarious activities of criminals ,who are  out to harm the  innocent people in Kano.” 
In January this year, the State Police Command said it had confiscated Cocaine, Heroin, Indian hemp and other intoxicating substances, with a street value of over N1.2 billion from October to December   2015. It’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Magaji Musa Majia said over 250 drug retailers and addicts were arrested.  “Items we recovered from them included 900 cartoons of Tramadol tablets, cocaine powder, 48,000kgs of Indian hemp, hundreds of thousands of bottles of cough syrups, which include Tutoline, Packaline, Codeine, Suck and Die and rubber solutions. Their direct target consumers are youth and women in the state.” Late last year the police also arrested a 70 year-0ld woman, Aisha Alhassan and 29 others at Gwale area of Kano city. Drugs found in her possession included 48 bags of Indian hemp, cartons of Rubber solution, Suck and Die, Tramadol tablets, Codeine syrup, Penwin injections and 13 cartons of other intoxicants worth N60 million. The arrest of drug peddlers, drug users and the confiscation of illicit drugs by security operatives in the metropolis, has  become a weekly routine, but it is surprising that this does not seem to deter the culprits from indulging in the obnoxious trade.    

Speaking on the increasing number of  drug cases among the youth, the NDLEA Commandant, Mallam Hamza Umar, said what most youths and some house wives abuse in Kano were medicaments like syrups meant for the curing of some ailments. “If you go to Sabon Gari, Fagge, Gwale, Zoo road, Dan Agundi and Badawa areas, you will find that what they abuse are local drugs like rubber solution, Codeine, Tutolin syrups and Suck and Die (Sukudaya or Madara) which they pay about N5 naira to buy. On seeing the impact of these medicaments, the youth decided to abuse them. They have even gone beyond that. Now, they go to decaying  gutters to extract the dirt to use as a drug. Some even go to toilets to get these things. These are the kind of abuse that is on the increase in Kano. They are on the increase because there is no control. They are socially available drugs, and nobody will rebuke or warn them against it. Nobody will tell them it is enough and nobody will punish them for taking them, because they are medicaments primarily meant for taking care of their ailments, but unfortunately they abuse them.”
He maintained that there are groups of drug dealers in the state who are agents of death. “They are retailers and distributors of those illicit drugs.  They go from ward to ward, and from area to area, and their targets are the youth and married women. Those who go from house to house to sell or introduce drugs to married women go in hijabs ,and pretend to be decent women. There was this case of a woman who went to introduce one of these drugs to a married woman. The husband of the woman was about going out when she came. He allowed her to go in and later went in to see what she came for. He was shocked to find the woman educating his wife on how to use some of these drugs. Some of them are being deceived into believing that when they use the drug it will help them to forget their sorrow, or increase their sexual performance. Unfortunately, they abuse  the medicaments and become useless. Some of them have contacted diseases, even HIV ,through the injections they use for these drugs.”
To combat the drug challenge the State Government in 2011 established a Reformatory Institute at Kiru where the drug addicts are being rehabilitated. When our correspondent visited the institute, one of its staff, Lawal Nasiru Kiru said the 5th batch of the youths that were brought there for rehabilitation had just completed their two months programme, and had been transferred to the Sani Abacha Youth Centre for training in various vocational skills.
“The rehabilitation of people that are addicted to drugs is done over  a two month period in this institute. The first month is dedicated to their medication, while the second month is for their training on the jobs they desire. Many of them are brought here from different homes as a result of their involvement in drugs ranging from Marijuana, Suck and Die, Rubber solution and other drug habits. Once they are brought here, we don’t allow them to go out of this place throughout the two months period. They started bringing them in 2011, and they range from  150 to 170 in a batch. A consulting firm, CGS from the Niger Delta area was brought in to manage it by the past administration under Kwankwaso. We have four permanent doctors in the institute and five other consulting doctors, who always come from Abuja every week to attend to them. Anyone brought to the institute becomes well and free from drug addiction, before he leaves for vocational training at the youth centre.”    

Though government appears unrelenting in its fight against illicit drugs in the state, however, the increasing rate of youths and house wives involvement in drug abuse, has  become a source of worry to many, including stakeholders and residents  in the metropolis where these cases are rampant. Last year ,state Commissioner for Health, Dr Kabiru Ibrahim Getso raised alarm over the challenges government was facing in combating supply, circulation and the use of illicit drugs in Kano. He expressed worry over the challenges government was facing due to the existence of open drug markets, particularly the late Muhammed Abubakar Rimi market at Sabon Gari. He said “Some of the security personnel stationed at the market to prevent the entering and taking out of drugs from the market, have compromised and are aiding the drug dealers. There have been repeated threats to lives of Drugs Task Force Committee members and Hisbah personnel.” 

Upon his resumption of duty as the new NDLEA Commandant in Kano Mallam Umar vowed to tackle the supply and use of illicit drugs in the state. He said his command was ready to partner and support the state government to overcome the drug challenges. To achieve this, the anti-drug agency has embarked on what it called school-to-school campaign against drug abuse in Kano. 
The NDLEA boss told our correspondent that the objective of the campaign was to capture pupils in the primary schools, students in both secondary and tertiary institutions in the state, before they get involved in drugs. He said “For instance, some secondary school authorities recently decided to check their students before they allowed them into the school premises, and they were shocked to discover more than 120 bottles of syrups in their bags. We need to take the campaign to them at the primary, secondary, Polytechnics and University  levels, to let them know the danger of drugs so that they can run away from it rather than getting involved. We are enjoying the support of the school authorities in the state,  and they have been calling on the agency to come and talk to their students on drugs, because they now realize the importance of our campaign against drugs. Now the Churches, Mosques and Corporate Organizations are also involved in the campaign. On Friday at the Mosque we now hear sermons on the ills of drugs. A lot of education and campaign is going on in the state right now. What this means is that we are progressing in our effort to curb drug abuses in Kano State.”
At the Sani Abacha Youth Centre where many of the youth are usually taken, Mallam  Abdul Samiu Musa, the Course  Director at  the centre ,said the likely reasons some of the youths are involved in drug abuse was because some of them lack love and guidance. He said “They feel nobody wants to have anything to do with them, and they are lonely most of the time. When you go to most of the parks you will notice that there are many under age children, without parental care or attention. Some of the almajiri women sometimes give birth on the streets, and the children are left to grow without love from their fathers, mothers and even the society. When they bring them here the first thing we do is to integrate them into other youths. They see what others do, they eat and sleep in the same place with them. Day in day out they go for sports, lectures and with time they become just like the other youth, who are free from the vices. At the end most of them become better persons before leaving here. We don’t take a long period to train them. We train them for three to six months, and after that they go for industrial training. We usually send them to places where their skills are available, so that they will acquire more intensive training there. We go round from time to time to assess and ensure that they are in those places. We also recommend to their sponsors to settle them in respect of buying the equipment related to the training they had, so that when they go back home, instead of just mingling and going back to their previous habits, they will have something to fall back on.”