The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mojisola Adeyeye, has said that about 14.3 million Nigerians are victims of drug abuse.
Adeyeye stated this at the inaugural ceremony of the agency’s youth programme, tagged ‘Catch Them Young,’ held at the Government Secondary School, Rumuokwuta, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
According to her, research findings show that one out of every four high-risk drug users has been arrested for drug-related offences.
She said that the arrest included 73 per cent for drug possession, 12 per cent for theft, five per cent for sex work, four per cent for burglary, and two per cent for shoplifting.
“Note that this data only shows the number of arrests; if we consider that most crimes are unreported, then we will see that we have a huge problem on our hands,” she said.
Adeyeye, however, noted the negative effects of drug abuse on families, society, and the nation’s socio-economic development.
