“What baffles me is the boldness in these young drug dealers”. This is how a disturbed resident painted the rising trend of teenagers involved in hard drug trade in Abuja.
You will notice them on the streets and avenues of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city. But these gang of youths in the growing hard drugs enterprise is more noticeable in the bustling market places jostling for customers just like legal trading. Daring as they are, the gang push their trade at any time of the day. Broad day light and even late at nights, as long as their patrons come calling. But in spite of the presence of law enforcement operatives, regulations and media campaigns the hawkers are dauntless. Ogbodo Ozioma Favour who witnessed the open canvassing for clients in the dangerous hours of 1: AM (Night), recently, reports that aside the street canvassing, they operate a strong network, yet they disguise not, as the trade is now an open secret of a sort.
World of rohypnol, Molly Lucrative Business
Despite the campaign and clampdown against hard drugs by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Africa Health Report (AHR) confirms that drug censoring in Abuja is a lucrative business.
This reporter confirmed that hard drugs like rohypnol, Molly and tramadol are being hawked on the streets of Abuja like common commodities in different parts of the city.
Bustling Wuse Drug Market
In Wuse 2, groups of drugs peddlers approach cars or individuals bolding pushing drugs and campaigning for customers like every other commodity.
In the heart of Abuja, precisely Wuse, we see how these peddlers openly initiate the sell of diffident kind of drugs to impending vehicles from the early evening of 4:00pm to late hours of the night.
A young man in his late twenties was speaking to a vehicle owner, “I have loud and Molly and it cost N5000, I also have rohypnol and the full sachet is N20,000” he said.
Similar situation was reported at Kubuwa at their most frequented spot known as the 33, Junction, Mango Tree and Near Transformer where residents of Bwari Council of FCT, complained of how teenagers are boldly marketing all sorts of hard drugs.
Residents’ Fears, Lament
A resident, identified simply as Patrick Odion laments the boldness of the peddlers,
“What baffles me is the boldness in the young drug dealers. They feel what they are doing is legal. They are posing a lot of threat to residents”.
UN Report
According to 2018 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) titled “Drug use in Nigeria” Cannabis is the most commonly used drug. An estimate 10.8 per cent of the population or 10.6 million people had used cannabis in the past year.
Harmful Effects of Drug Abuse
Some people who use drug develop use disorder, meaning that they are unable to stop using drugs even though it’s causing health and social problems in their lives says the Centre for Disease Control (CDC)
It noted that approximately 3 in 10 people who use drugs depicts series of disorder. Also, a study is showed that people who use drugs have about 10% likelihood of becoming addicted.
NDLEA Stance
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) made this statement in Abuja late last year at a conference during the preparation to mark the 2023 United Nations drug day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking tagged: “People First: Stop Stigma and Discrimination, Strengthen Prevention.”
Marwa, who was represented by the agency’s Secretary, Mr. Shadrach Haruna, lamented the dependence on drugs by users and continues a joint effort to stop drug peddling.
“Stigmatization and discrimination make recovery and reintegration difficult for drug-dependent users who submit themselves to treatment. And the prevalence of such an attitude is counterproductive to the effort, time, and resources invested by governments, institutions, and corporate bodies working to contain the drug problem”.
