The Edo State command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Monday said a total of 4,225.96kg of psychotropic drugs were seized from unauthorised persons between 2015 and 2023 in the state.
Buba Wakawa, Edo State commander, NDLEA, disclosed this during the 2023 sensitisation seminar for members of the Nigerian Association of Patent and Proprietary Medicine Dealers (NAPPMED) in Benin City.
Wakawa listed some of the psychotropic drugs to include tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, rophynol, codeine-based cough syrups among others.
According to him, these drugs have been found to be drugs of choice for perpetrators of violent crimes apart from the hard drugs.
The state commander equally stated that a national survey conducted in 2018 revealed that about 14.3 million Nigerians, most of whom were youth, abuse drugs with a prevalence of 14.4 precent, noting that the figure was alarming when compared with the world drug prevalence of five percent.
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Speaking on the theme of the workshop, “The role of NAPPMED in the war against drug abuse”, he said the seminar was part of the command’s renewed efforts toward checking the rising trend of drug abuse in the state, just as he solicited for synergy with the association to curb the menace. He urged members of the association to think beyond business and monetary benefits, and restrict themselves to sales of only over-the-counter medicines.
“NAPPMED, being a critical stakeholder and the most common drug sales outlet in all communities especially in the interior, is, therefore, paramount in our efforts towards curbing the illegal sale of controlled drugs,” Wakawa said.
Sylvester Ebojele, president of NAPPMED, Edo chapter, expressed gratitude to the drug enforcement agency for the seminar with a promise to enforce the war against drug abuse among its members, adding that his administration had inaugurated a state taskforce to check the excesses of members and the sale of unauthorised drugs in the state.
