The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disclosed that it is proposing a primary control strategy aimed at preventing newly admitted university students from being initiated into drug use.
The Niger State Commander of the NDLEA, Shehu Nomau Gwadabawa, made this known while speaking with The Guardian in Minna during a public lecture themed: Building Responsible Student Leadership, Combating Drug, Thuggery, Hate Speech and Campus Disunity Through Positive Value and Mentorship.
The event was organised by the Students’ Wing of the Coalition of Northern Groups (SW-CNG), Niger State Chapter, at the College of Education, Minna, over the weekend.
Commander Gwadabawa, who was represented by the Area Commander, NDLEA Minna Municipal Special Operations Base, Amisu Mohammed, raised concerns over the increasing level of students’ involvement in drug use across university campuses, noting that the proposed strategy would go a long way in deterring drug abuse.
He explained that the NDLEA regularly conducts raids on campuses of the Federal University of Technology (FUT), Minna, adding that “if Ten (10) persons were arrested, Eight of them would be University student.”
He added: “At a time, we have to engaged the student union government, we sat with the leadership and told them we are going to scale down our raid outside the University campuses, but, than, on their own part too, the partnership is that, they should intensify war against drug abuse sensitization within the campuses and that has yielded result within the University community.”
He further disclosed that university students were at one time involved in drug dealing, stating that the command took decisive action by arresting and prosecuting a 200-level student.
“If we sat and be watching, remember, they are student, and the student, from usage metermaforse into drug dealing is a very serious issue, so we have to set a precedent in 2025, by prosecuting one of the University student, of course, that deterred a lot of the students, so, we have less issues of drug dealings within the University campuses now,” he said.
According to the Commander, cannabis remains the most commonly abused drug among students.
He said: “Among students, what top the chat of drug usage in terms of prevalence is Cannabis Sativa, though, what it’s most common among students is re-define Cannabis Sativa which we call (lite kalos), known as loud, adding that whenever we raid campuses, what we found is ‘Loud’, is a re-define Cannabis Sativa, but, not ordinary Cannabis Sativa.”
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