Drug abuse: Senate tasks FG to set-up rehabs

The Senate on Tuesday tasked the Federal Government to set up drug rehabilitation centres across the country to help victims of drug abuse.

This is even as the senate has restated its commitment to ensure that the menace of drug abuse was tackled from its root cause.

In a motion sponsored by Sen. Jeremiah Useni and nine others, the senate noted that with more rehabilitation centres, addicts would get professional help.

The motion is the aftermath of the roundtable which the senate held in Kano to tackle the menace.

At the round table, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki promised to go after distributors of illicit drugs as a means of curbing abuse.

The Senate therefore passed a motion on Tuesday calling on the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Health to establish rehabilitation centers in each of the 36 States of the Nation.

Sen. Useni who sponsored the motion said that the long term advantage of the centres is that the rate of addiction and crime would be reduced.

“Drug addicts are seen everywhere on the streets,” said Senator Philip Gyunka, “I have the strong belief that if the rehabilitation centers are established there will be less crime in the society.”

Speaking on the Motion, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, emphasized that drug abuse negatively affects the productivity of our youth, stating that there was a need to stop the distribution of drugs at both the wholesale and retail levels.

“This issue of drug abuse is a threat to youths’ productivity. There’s need to break the chain between the dealers and users as it is fostering crimes in the country. Security agencies should curb the distribution of drugs,” Ekweremadu said.

Commending the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Senator Joshua Lidani, stated that the Motion stemmed from the Senate Roundtable organized in Kano last year, which shed light on how big of an issue drug use is in the country.

The Senate further resolved to urge relevant stakeholders like the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to key into the proposed rehabilitation centers, while, mandating its committee on Secondary and Tertiary Health to ensure that the Federal Government gives the centers the needed attention when established.

-NAN