Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has sounded a grave warning over what it described as a growing drug-fueled crime and security crisis in Enugu State, South East Nigeria,revealing that no fewer than 360,000 youths are currently addicted to hard drugs in that part of the country.
The startling figure, representing about 13.4 per cent of the state’s youth population, was disclosed by the Deputy Commander of Narcotics and Drug Demand Reduction of the NDLEA in Enugu State, Mr. Owunwa Ibezimako, during the MTN Anti-Substance Abuse Programme (ASAP) Stakeholders’ Conference held in Enugu.
Ibezimako warned that the alarming statistics point to a dangerous erosion of societal values and a growing threat to public safety, stressing that drug abuse remains a major driver of criminal activities across the country.
“Drugs and crime are not strange bedfellows. For every organised crime recorded in Nigeria, drugs are either the enablers or the enhancers,” he said.
According to him, the findings emerged from a survey jointly conducted by the NDLEA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), which identified illicit drug use as a key contributor to insecurity and criminality in communities.
He expressed concern that narcotics abuse, once largely associated with tertiary institutions, has now spread to secondary and even primary schools, exposing younger children to the dangers of addiction and criminal exploitation.
The NDLEA official described the development as a deepening public health and security emergency requiring urgent intervention from government, parents, schools, religious organisations and community leaders.
“The vulnerability of our children is scaling up at a speed that demands immediate and aggressive containment,” he warned.
To tackle the menace, Ibezimako said the NDLEA, under the leadership of its Chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa, has intensified nationwide preventive measures through initiatives such as the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign and the Save Our Families programme.
He disclosed that a national policy requiring drug tests for newly admitted university students and newly recruited government workers is already in force, while efforts are underway to introduce preventive anti-drug education into school curricula.
Also speaking at the conference, the Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, Mrs. Odunayo Sanya, lamented the devastating impact of drug abuse on young people, saying many lose their identities and future prospects once they become trapped in drug dens.
Speaking emotionally, Sanya said drug syndicates often assign addicts new identities, severing them from their families and former lives.
“When they get into those dens, they give them a new identity. You can go in there and ask for them by their government names, but nobody knows who they are. The person you knew died the day they stepped into that place,” she said.
She noted that the MTN Foundation has invested over N33 billion in health, education and youth empowerment programmes since 2004, reaching more than 33 million Nigerians, as part of efforts to shield young people from drug abuse and other social vices.
The Secretary to the Enugu State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, also described substance abuse as a serious security and developmental challenge rather than merely a health issue.
He warned that the growing prevalence of drugs among young people threatens human capital development and could undermine the future of the country if left unchecked.
“You might think it is a neighbour’s problem, but when you send your children away to universities or even high schools today, they are stepping into highly vulnerable spaces where these enablers are actively waiting,” Onyia cautioned.
The conference drew participants from traditional institutions, civil society groups, educational institutions and community organisations, all of whom called for stronger collaboration to stem the tide of drug abuse and the crimes often associated with it.
Stakeholders agreed that without urgent and sustained action, the growing drug epidemic could further fuel criminal activities, insecurity and social disintegration in Enugu State and beyond.