Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, estimates that over 14.3 million Nigerians are sufferers of drug misuse.
Adeyeye announced this during the agency’s youth programme’s launch event, titled ‘Catch Them Young,’ which took place on Wednesday at the Government Secondary School in Rumuokwuta, Port Harcourt.
According to her study findings, one out of every four high-risk drug users has been arrested for drug-related crimes.
She stated that the arrests comprised 73% for drug possession, 12% for theft, 5% for sex work, 4% for burglary, and 2% 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, on the other hand, emphasized the harmful impact of drug misuse on families, society, and the country’s socioeconomic progress.
She said that the circumstance prompted NAFDAC to launch a comprehensive, coordinated, and intense programme aimed at lowering the incidence of drug usage among secondary pupils.
According to the DG, drug addiction can arise from both legal such as prescribed medicines and illicit drugs.
