Nigeria should declare emergency over youths and children’s abuse of hard drugs – NAFDAC

NAFDAC, the agency for safe consumption of foods and drugs in Nigeria, has urged the Federal government to declare an emergency over the increasing abuse of hard drugs by youths and chilldren in the country. 

The agency’s Director-General, Prof Christiana Adeyeye, said the situation calls for urgent address, just as the agency intercepted and seized three trucks filled with Tramadol at the Apapa ports in Lagos State. Adeyeye said the abuse of drugs, particularly in the north, was responsible for the high rate of crimes in the country. 

He said: “we have to declare an emergency because of our youths and children who are abusing hard drugs. As I speak, we have about 33 containers of Tramadol that we intercepted. Those are the ones we could see. Some have exited the ports. We have a big problem in the country and we have to declare an emergency because of our youths and children who are abusing drugs and families being disintegrated". 

He added that “about five weeks ago, NAFDAC intercepted a 40-feet container of Tramadol and two trucks exiting the Apapa ports. We were told that these vehicles were heading for Yola and the eventual destination may be the Sambisa Forest. How can a young girl agree to have bombs tie around her, if not that her mind has been stolen through drugs? So, we have a problem to tackle. With the 33 containers, it means that some other containers are yet to be identified. We also have a problem with our porous borders.”