The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency successfully obtained the conviction of 2,224 individuals, including 1,985 men and 239 women following the arrest of 8,561 drug traffickers between January and August 2023.
According to official statistics received exclusively by our correspondent, the anti-narcotics agency also confiscated 888,743 illicit substances in total over the same time frame.
In a recent report, the agency estimated that 14.3 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64, including a rising proportion of women, were currently abusing drugs.
The Ogun State Commander of the NDLEA, Ibiba Odili, made the statement earlier this month in Abeokuta during the War Against Drug Abuse launch in partnership with the Lions Club International.
“14.3 million Nigerian drug abusers are 15 to 64 years old, while one out of every four drug users is a woman. In 2018, data shows that more women are going into drug use.
“If more women are going into drug use, it is a source of worry for us as the traditional role of women in families and communities as caregivers, role models, and life moulders will be threatened, and what quality of children are these women going to raise?”, Odili said.
cc: Punch Ng
