NDLEA RAISES ALARM OVER DRUG ABUSE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has attributed the
current wave of violent crimes in the South-east and other
neighbouring states to the consumption of Indian hemp and other
dangerous drugs by secondary school students, a situation it warned
would deteriorate if urgent steps were not taken.

The anti-drug law agency noted that while it was grappling with
curtailing the influx and intake of Indian hemp by school children,
several of them have recently been caught with cocaine.

Speaking on behalf the agency at weekend during the third annual
symposium of the Inwelle Study and Resource Centre, Enugu, Mr. Fintan
Bassey said a survey carried out by the NDLEA showed that crimes
committed by students recently in Enugu were drug motivated.

"Indian hemp is a problem. It is now a way of life, especially among
adolescents. It is now found in pockets and bags of students in
secondary school." He said, "we have also observed that the intake of
this weed usually accounts for their restiveness and hostility in
Enugu and the entire South-east zone. It is also responsible for their
vulnerability to crime and other criminal activities.

"With time, some have confided in us that they graduate to taking
cocaine, which pushes them into crime so that they would be able to
afford the lifestyle that goes with it. If we do not check this vice
among these pupils, who are usually between the ages of 15 and 20,
then we may have ourselves to blame, especially now that the elections
are near."

The NDLEA boss disclosed that the drug is now planted in Nigeria. He
said, "barely a month ago, the agency had destroyed a farm of Indian
hemp in Enugu Ezike and Nsukka areas in Enugu State."

Earlier on, the Chairperson of the third annual symposium of the
Inwelle Study and Resource Centre, Mrs. Chine Chizoba, had stated that
the symposium theme -- "Nigeria is 50: What about the Youths" -- was
chosen bearing in mind the role of the youths in societal
developmental process of Nigeria.

Chizoba said another factor that accounted for the theme selection was
the involvement of "our youths in various crimes and social disorder,
including youth restiveness, kidnapping, drug abuse, and illicit drug
trafficking." She, however, said, "the theme for the symposium is
therefore aimed at leveraging and reorienting the youths in order to
manage their restiveness and restlessness, and to ensure that they
play positive roles in the developmental process of the 21st Century
Nigeria."