Southwest part of Nigeria has been identified as the zone with the highest record of drug abuse and trafficking of illicit substances.
The Director General of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), General Buba Marwa, made the revelation at a book launch in Ibadan.
General Marwa said that Southwest recorded about 22.4% of the total number of drug abuse by young people across the country.
He disclosed that in the geo-political zone, Lagos and Oyo state are top of the list, assuring that attention has been shifted to the states to ensure that the war against illicit drug usage is won.
According to him, Lagos state has a record of 23 percent while Oyo state records a total of 24 percent of all the states across the Southwest zone.
While stressing on the agency’s recent report on the war against illicit drugs, General Buba Marwa noted that over N90 billion worth of drugs and cash have so far been recovered by the agency in a space of 5 months.
He added that about 5000 arrests have been made, while 3000 have been charged to court and more than 2000 of them are undergoing counselling.
According to him, “our record at the NDLEA in the first five months of this year calls for sober reflection: over 5, 000 arrests; over 3, 000 charged to court with more than 500 convictions; 2,303 individuals were counselled and treated for drug-related problems.”
He called on Nigerians to support the Agency in its fight against the menace, as it is a major contributing factor to insecurity in the country.
