Katsina- The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed 6,795 kg of cannabis sativa and psychotropic substances worth N800 million in Katsina.
The NDLEA Commander in the state, Hajiya Maryam Sani, made the disclosure at the public destruction of the seized drugs on Thursday.
Sani said that the drugs were seized from 558 people between 2007 and 2013.
The drugs, according to him, included 5,878.9 kg cannabis sativa, while 916.2 kg was psychotropic substances.
She said that the agency had acquired a court order for destruction of the seized drugs.
Sani said that 94 people, who were arrested in connection with the illicit drugs, were imprisoned by the court, and 572 others counselled during the period under review.
She, therefore, solicited the support of the general public in the fight against drugs abuse and trafficking in the state.
In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer, NDELA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade, highlighted some of the effects of drugs abuse as decreasing one’s ethical and personal values.
He further said that drugs abuse increases domestic violence and criminality in the society.
“Some people commit crimes in order to sustain their drug supply, while others kill and maim innocent citizens under the influence of such drugs,’’ he said.
Giade said the agency had recorded remarkable success in eradication of cannabis cultivation in the country.
He explained that NDLEA would continue to campaign, organise seminars and workshops to highlight the harmful effects of illicit drugs.
The Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Mannir Talba, said that the state government had constituted a committee on drug abuse to sensitise youths and the public on the dangers associated with drug abuse.
Talba said that government would continue to join hands with NDELA and other relevant agencies to free the state from the menace of drug abuse. (NAN)