Tunde omolehin, Sokoto
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said drug abuse and consumption is not limited to the northern part of the country but a transnational menace.
Assistant Commandant, Sokoto State Command, Amos Bamidele, stated this when he spoke on the effects of drugs abuse in Nigeria, on the sidelines of World Drugs Day commemoration in the state.
“It is not only in Nigeria that people abuse drugs and it is not only in Sokoto that people abuse drugs in Nigeria. There is no state in Nigeria that is drugs consumption-free. It is only that consumption of specific drugs differs in Nigeria. In Sokoto, abuse of drugs like Codeine, Tramadol, are more rampant where cannabis is more abused in places like Lagos and Edo than cough syrup,” he disclosed.
Bamidele also confirmed that government’s recent ban on production and consumption of codeine-based drugs, has drastically reduced illicit drug consumption generally.
“It does not mean you will not find these drugs in the market but not in the volume as you used to see it before.
“The drop in supply has really made the price to shoot up. A bottle that used to sell for N800, now costs N2,500.
In this case, it is not everybody that is able to buy it because it can only be found with smugglers and black marketers.”