CHINEDU WOSU, YENAGOABayelsa state command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, on Monday said the command has secured the conviction of three persons to various years in prisons for possessing various hard drugs.
The command said among those convicted include two female and one male who would serve sentences ranging from 18 months to 20 months in prison.
State Commander, NDLEA, Abdullahi Abdul also said the command confiscated illicit drugs weighing 81.95kg from 120 suspects in the state.
Abdullahi Abdul who disclosed this to newsmen in his office in Yenagoa, said the arrests and seizure were carried out between January and June this year, adding that those arrested include 85 males and 38 females.
According to him, seven persons including five males and two females were also remanded in prison custody for various drug related offences.
According to the Commander, a breakdown of the seizures includes cannabis 74.615 kg, cocaine 0.011kg, heroin 0.059kg, and psychotropic drugs 7.265kg.
Abdul raised the alarm that the major problem faced by the state is the abuse of psychotropic substances by the youths.
“In Bayelsa state, the major thing that worries us here is the use of psychotropic substances which are mostly abused by youths, we are trying our best to curtail the usage of these substances and within the last six months, we were able to arrest 123 suspects.
“We were able to counsel a total of forty-one suspects while five chronic drug users were completely rehabilitated by the Drug Demand Addiction Unit of the Command. In the process of the counseling we involved medical doctors and other medical personnel to ensure full rehabilitation.
He attributed logistics as its major problems and called on state government and traditional rulers to assist the command in reporting drug related cases to the command
“Our major handicap in Bayelsa state is logistics that will make us to cover every nook and cranny of the state particularly the riverine hinterland, but we are working assiduously with the state government to see that we can get to every part of the state. Drug abuse is an issue that concerns everybody in the society, we need to work together to make the society safe for everyone.”
