The Rivers State Command of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has identified cannabis as a leading substance of abuse in the state.
State Commander, NDLEA, Rivers State Command, Amb. Rachael Shelleng, who spoke through the agency’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ogbumgbada in a telephone chat said those addicted to cannabis (Indian hemp) in addition to smoking, use it to create euphoria and have feeling of intoxication.
Ogbumgbada said: “Generally, drug use is high everywhere. Every state has some indicators that will point the direction whether drug use is high or low and then the type of drug that is abused. For instance, in some northern states, they use Tramadol a lot (but) in Rivers State, because of availability of Cannabis, people abuse it… On the whole, Cannabis is still leading substance of abuse in Rivers State.”
Ogbumgbada said cannabis is addictive and that those who abuse it will continue to have a “craving desire” to continue to abuse it.
He said the use of cannabis by youths in an election encourages them to have courage to carry out electoral violence, saying that “Cannabis is only one of the things given to those that have been selected to do violence. Electoral violence is induced by the contestants themselves, those that want to occupy (political) positions, so what they do is that in order to increase the ability of those that they have selected to do their violence, they give them cannabis in order to increase their courage to do violence”.
He said cannabis itself has nothing to do with electoral violence but that it could be used as energizer for electoral violence.
Ogbumgbada said NDLEA was working hard within limits of the law setting it up to prevent drug abuse in Rivers State, saying that the agency offers counselling services to those who abuse drugs in the state.
He said NDLEA also provides treatment and rehabilitation for in-patient and out-patient clients, adding that the drug law enforcement agency arrests those who buy and sell drugs in the state.
According to him, NDLEA apprehends those who cultivate, distribute and sell drugs saying: “We go out there to look for them and arrest them as well as seize the exhibit and remove it from circulation,” adding that those arrested would be investigated and charged to court for trial.
He said NDLEA also conducts visa clearance investigation on people who want to travel to countries like China, Thailand, Malaysia with whom Nigeria has bilateral agreement.
On challenges facing the NDLEA, Ogbumgbada said the agency’s biggest challenge is inadequate funding and appealed to government to provide more funding for the agency to do better.
