NDLEA, Police, CRAN & Others Warn Students Against Drug Abuse

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Nigerian school children have been advised to stay away from drugs and cultism in order to attain the desired bright future.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the advice was given in Lagos during the 2024 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking organised by the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, CRAN.

Speaking on the theme of the day, ‘The Evidence is Clear, Invest in Prevention’, Mallum Musa, the officer in charge of media and advocacy, NDLEA Lagos Command, urged the children who were invited to the event to stay away from drugs, be good ambassadors and not to allow peer pressure to change them.

He stated that Illicit drugs are the fuel to perpetrate crimes, adding that it will destroy their ambitions.

The spokesman of the State Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, admonished the school children not to experiment with drugs, adding that “the moment you take drugs, you are no longer in control of your faculty”. He also warned them against committing crimes, getting involved in drug abuse and cultism.

He said those who have committed such crimes at a young age would be tried at juvenile courts and sent to juvenile homes.

The Chief Executive Officer, Jesus Care Reformation Centre for Drug Abuse and Misuse, Daniel Osita Collins, called on all Nigerians to join hands to rescue the younger generation by reporting any crime around them to the Police.

“All must be done to discourage those who are promoting drugs and chemical substances with their music, movies and their clubs”, he added.

He also expressed worry that children are taking after the musicians as their role models.

In his welcome address, the President of CRAN, Lekan Olabulo, advised the NDLEA and other security agencies to engage in public sensitization in schools and communities as a way of fighting the menace of drug abuse in Nigeria.

According to him, “As members of the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria, we have taken it as our modest support and contribution to the society to fight crimes through our sensitization of students and other members of the public on drug abuse”.