MINISTER DECRIES DRUG ABUSE BY YOUTH

Minister of Women Affairs and Youth development,Obong Rita Akpan, has
lamented the spate of drug use by youths in the country.

She said that in a bid to fight the menace, the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) is to establish a rehabilitation center for children and
young adults invovled in drug trafficking in Akwa Ibom state.

Obong Akpan, who disclosed this in Uyo, reiterated that it is difficult to
ascertain the exact number of children and young adults involved in the
trafficking of drugs because according to her "drug trafficking is a hidden
and secretive business".

Akpan called on the Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly to duplicate the
"Child rights Bill"in the state by passing it into law, adding that the
Assembly members need to be well informed about the Bill and the exigencies
of child abuse and trafficking in the state so that traffickers could be
made to face the full weight of the law at Federal level.

She added that children who are victims of child abuse are dysfunctional
and reiterated that those involved should be brought to book.