Over 3m Nigerians suffer drug disorder — UNODC

The United Worldwide locations Place of work on Medication and Crime (UNODC) has revealed that bigger than three million Nigerians are at the moment struggling from drug exercise complications, warning that the country’s drug occurrence rate—now at 14.4 per cent—is nearly three times the enviornment common.

UNODC Country Marketing consultant Cheikh Ousman Toure delivered the message by plot of the Deputy Head of the UNODC in Nigeria, Danilo Campisi, all the plot by plot of an match on the National Drug Legislation Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) headquarters in Abuja to mark the commencement of the 2025 World Drug Day activities.

In response to Campisi, the upward thrust in drug abuse—in particular opioids equivalent to tramadol—is bigger than a public properly being venture. “It is now no longer factual a properly being disaster; it's miles a voice, security, and peace-building recount,” he said.

UNODC also warned that the rising drug recount is intently linked with other forms of organised crime. The organisation cited connections between drug trafficking and human trafficking, illegal mining, environmental degradation, and the funding of extremist violence.

Campisi emphasised that narrate governments have to desire a extra energetic characteristic in addressing the disaster.

“The narrate governments ought to be actively all in favour of drug adjust efforts, working with NDADA and other linked entities to be certain that the provision of proof-essentially essentially based prevention and therapy applications of their states,” he said.

He praised the NDLEA for its efforts but mighty that authorities dedication alone would now no longer be satisfactory with out community involvement. “Prevention, therapy, and recovery are now no longer luxuries. They're lifestyles-saving investments,” he said. “Together, we can wreck these vicious circles of drug abuse, organised crime, and marginalisation.”

The UNODC pledged persisted toughen for Nigeria in building a properly being-essentially essentially based and rights-focused approach to drug exercise, in collaboration with civil society organisations and authorities companions.

NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Buba Marwa, who also spoke on the match, called on Nigerians to participate actively in the fight towards drug abuse and trafficking. “It is a long way a collective responsibility. Shielding our citizens, in particular the childhood, from the grip of atrocious substances have to now no longer be left to authorities alone,” he said.

World Drug Day is marked yearly to bag consciousness of the enviornment drug recount and to promote action in direction of strengthening global cooperation and native responses to drug-linked challenges.