NDLEA ARRESTS 106, SEIZES 4,255 KG OF INDIAN HEMP

Kogi State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency
(NDLEA), between January to date, made seizures of about 4,255
kilogrammes of Indian hemp and arrested 106 suspects.The command also
impounded five vehicles of various makes, including a petrol tanker
and a bullion van, and successfully counselled 45 addicts. State
commander of the agency, Mr Balla Musa, disclosed this in Lokoja at
the opening of the state chapter of its nation-wide awareness campaign
on the prevention of drug cultivation, abuse and illicit trafficking
in Nigeria.

He said that 24 of the 106 arrested in connection with the seizures
had been convicted and were already serving jail terms, while the
command awaited final determination of the cases pending in courts to
destroy the drugs.

Musa said that it had been proved that 70 percent of crimes
perpetrated in the country was directly related to drug abuse, adding
that reducing drug abuse to the minimum would bring crime to
standstill. "What we believe is that drugs, with its attendant
consequences, is something that affects the generality of the
society.There is no individual, community or society that is immuned
to the dangers inherent in drugs abuse and trafficking," he asserted.

Calling on all and sundry for urgent intervention to reduce drug
incidences to the barest minimum, he said, "This trend has become
worrisome and a threat to the future of the youths in Kogi State and,
indeed, Nigeria."

In an interview with Sunday Trust in Lokoja, Musa said that states in
the country were categorized into "A,B,C and D" according to their
prevalence rate, saying that Kogi was presently rated among the "C'
States".

He assured that the campaign would be taken to villages, saying, "We
are going into the nooks and cranny of the 21 local government areas
of Kogi State to intimate people about the dangers of drug abuse for
them to make healthy choices." Also in an interview with Sunday Trust
the guest lecturer at the occasion, Pharm. Emmanuel Abuh said drug
abuse could lead to mental illness; school dropouts and compromise the
health of the abuser.