A major social effect of illicit drug abuse among youths, apart from the exhibition of deviant behaviours like rape, armed robbery, and violent crimes, is domestic violence. Drug-induced domestic violence has sent many young partners to their early graves.
The recent horrifying incident of a domestic squabble between a young couple in their 20s somewhere in Delta State, which left the woman disembowelled and the man’s genitals mutilated, was attributed to drug-induced rage and paranoia. According to residents of the area, the man, under the influence of a hard drug, attacked his wife during a heated argument. The woman was reportedly stabbed in the abdomen, with her intestines spilling out, while the young man was left with a bloodied genital.
It was gathered that the man, who was known to be gentle and well-behaved, had recently begun abusing methamphetamine, locally known as ‘’Mkpurummiri’’, and had become increasingly violent and unpredictable. The couple are presently battling for their lives at the hospital. This is just one out of many cases from across the country, which we hear about daily.
The big question is: how do these youths get into the habit of using drugs? Different factors may raise a young person’s desire for drug use, including traumatic early childhood experiences, child domestic abuse, child sexual abuse, parental exposure to alcohol, cigarette and other drugs, peer pressure, inquisitiveness, keeping bad company, youthful exuberance, the urge to belong, depression, etc.
A worrisome development, which has become a source of concern to many is the availability, accessibility and affordability of these harmful drugs. These illicit drugs are sold at street corners, motor parks, tricycle parks and motorcycle parks in cities and rural communities. Some couriers distribute these drugs on behalf of local cartels to retailers and end users alike.
Efforts to stem the frightening escalation of wrong drug and substance usage, particularly among the youths, as well as mitigate the attendant negative effects on health, family and society have been intensified by both the federal and state governments, including non-governmental organisations.
The federal government, through the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), a federal law enforcement agency in Nigeria under the Federal Ministry of Justice, charged with the enforcement of substance abuse laws, including eliminating the growing, processing, manufacturing, selling, exporting, and trafficking of hard drugs; has been in the forefront of efforts to curb the menace of drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Nigeria. The NDLEA has made considerable inroads in its efforts to combat the alarming rate of drug use, particularly among youths, trafficking of narcotics and tropical substances.
Such efforts are evident in the number of recorded arrests, prosecutions and jailing of drug offenders, including traffickers and peddlers. As part of its war against drug abuse, the agency has seized and destroyed huge amounts of illicit drugs imported into the country.
The federal government has also, through the NDLEA, set up rehabilitation and counselling centres for drug addicts in some states across the country, including Delta State. Although the federal government’s rehabilitation centre in Delta, which is located in the premises of NDLEA at Ogwuashi-Ukwu, is grossly inadequate in capacity, as the facility can only accommodate a maximum of four patients at a time.
The Delta State government is not left out in the fight against drug and substance abuse, especially given the upsurge in the usage of hard drugs in the state, mostly among youths. The NDLEA in its 2023 report revealed that about 500,000 persons in the state between the ages of 15 and 65 were engaged in the use of illicit drugs. The number has increased since then.
Under the leadership of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, the government has shown a serious commitment to driving efforts aimed at reducing the prevalence of drug abuse, including trafficking and sale of illegal substances in the state, to achieve a drug-free Delta.
These efforts include the launching in February, 2025, of the ‘’Drug Free Delta’’ sensitization campaign; setting up War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) clubs in secondary schools in collaboration with NDLEA; provision of support services and promotion of drug-free culture in the state in collaboration with the NDLEA and other non-governmental organizations involved in advocacy on drug and substance abuse such as the Asaba Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation Committee set up by the Asagba of Asaba, HRM Obi (Prof) Epiphany Azinge SAN recently. Following its commitment to mitigating the effects of drug abuse in the state, the Delta State Government also commenced the establishment of rehabilitation and counselling centres for drug addicts in Kwale and Agbor, respectively.
Considering the devastating effects of drug abuse on the individual abusers, family and society, the fight against the use of illicit drugs and substances among the youth population should not be left to the government alone. All hands must therefore be on deck to take on this embarrassing scourge headlong.
Accordingly, parents, faith-based organisations, school administrators, and non-governmental organisations should be involved. On the family front, more efforts should be focused on parental engagement and support, parental disapproval of substance use once observed, and parental monitoring. The school administrators should also assist by ensuring that they strictly monitor pupils and students, and restrict them from unwholesome behaviour.
Government at all levels should also enunciate stricter penalties for peddlers, ensure strict surveillance at border points, regular raiding of flash points, establish affordable recreation centres for youths, expand and upgrade existing rehabilitation facilities, increase advocacy, and create drug addiction treatment programmes.
In addition to these remedial measures, youths should also help themselves by avoiding places where they know drugs and alcohol will be available, surrounding themselves with friends who do not indulge in drugs, develop the discipline of resisting temptation to indulge when they find themselves amid drug users, learn how to cope with stress and relaxing without taking drugs, and engaging in recreational activities.
Given that drug and substance abuse among Nigerian youths has assumed a near epidemic proportion, it may not be out of place if governments, both state and federal, consider declaring a state of emergency on Youth Drug Abuse.
