Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended Ige Babatunde, a community leader in Osun State, and Yusuf Abdulrahman, a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, for alleged possession of cannabis plants.
The NDLEA announced that Babatunde, aged 50, who is the head of the Akarabata community in Ile-Ife, Osun State, was arrested on July 5 with fresh cannabis plants weighing 5 kg.
This information was disclosed by the agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday.
In a related incident, Abdulrahman, a 25-year-old Corps member, was caught with 1.250 kg of cannabis at a Corpers Lodge in Kano State.
Babafemi stated that Abdulrahman was arrested on Wednesday, July 3, at the Corpers Lodge in the Sumaila area of Kano City.
Meanwhile, at a National Youth Conference organised by the Vanguard Against Drug Abuse (VGADA) detox centre in Abuja, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd), Chairman of the NDLEA, said drug abuse plays a role in enabling crimes and criminality across Nigeria.
During his presentation, Marwa explained that the abuse and trafficking of illicit substances are major contributors to the country’s current security challenges.
“I am one of the believers in the theory of crime that views the abuse and trafficking of illicit substances as enablers of crime and criminality,” Marwa stated.
He pointed to the surge of violence in the South East, traditionally a region of relative calm, as being partly fueled by drug abuse, particularly methamphetamine, known locally as Mkpuru Mmiri.
Marwa also dismissed arguments suggesting that drug use can inspire creativity, stating that severe mental health consequences are often associated with cannabis use.
“Many run mad or lose their sense of reasoning after smoking cannabis,” he said.
He urged young people to avoid drug abuse, saying, “Youth is an important period in the human life cycle, a make-or-mar period,” Marwa noted.
“It could become a period of lost opportunities due to the use of illicit drugs.”
