Mohammed Bashir Ibrahim, Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Kwara State Command, has promised to make the agency more visible in sports events as a way of drug trafficking control.
Ibrahim stated this on Tuesday when a group of journalists under the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria, (SWAN), Kwara State chapter paid him a courtesy call at the state head office in Ilorin.
According to him, the decision is borne out of recent challenges faced in policing drug traffickers in Kwara State.
Speaking on the danger it poses to sports, the NDLEA Commander added that youths are especially vulnerable to drug abuse because, according to him, “youths tend to glamorize drug use.”
“Matters are not helped when adults, handlers of athletes tend to sell them the drugs.
“We recently secured the conviction of a coach who was selling drugs to young athletes in his care,” he said.
The NDLEA Commander also revealed a grim scenario in drug law enforcement in the state, saying that the use and supply of synthetic cannabis, a modified form of Indian Hemp, is now prevalent among drug abusers.
He added that more women appear to be involved in the supply chain of banned substances like synthetic cannabis.
“The commander admitted that the data from UNODC is quite obsolete, given that it was produced in 2018 (statistical data are reviewed at least every five years).
These factors said Ibrahim make the job of drug law enforcement challenging.
Speaking on behalf of journalists at the NDLEA office, Ayodeji Ismail, Chairman Kwara SWAN, said that Sports Writers are very much aware of the dangers drug abuse poses to sports and youth development.
“We like to retool our members to properly report these in our bits,” he said.
He also pleaded that NDLEA should always make their presence felt at sports events.
“Your presence will help keep drug traffickers away from our athletes,” he said.
SWAN is seeking collaboration in capacity building in the area of drugs and sports to further enhance their reportorial skills.
Kwara state according to data from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, has a drug trafficking prevalence of 13 per cent, the highest in the whole of north-central Nigeria.
