The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has disclosed that it rehabilitated 210 drug addicts in Jigawa over the last 20 months.
The NDLEA Principal Staff Officer, Drug Demand Reduction Unit of Jigawa Command, Mr Garba Abubakar, told newsmen on Monday in Dutse.
According to him, 138 of the addicts including five females were rehabilitated in 2014 and 72 others including two females were rehabilitated between January and October 2015.
“The agency has counseled parents of the rehabilitated victims not to stigmatise them, so as not to push them back to drug abuse,” the NDLEA official said, stressing that it was important for families, friends and communities to show love and care.
He also noted that the victims need to be encouraged for them to feel secure and quickly reintegrate into the society.
“For such victims to fully recover, they need adequate and proper family care,” Abubakar added.
Abubakar said that the agency had been conducting community-based counseling and sensitization on the dangers associated with drug abuse.
According to him, the sensitization has been extended to schools, as most victims of drug abuse are of school age.
Urging all Nigerians to support the agency in the fight against the menace, the principal staff officer blamed lack of family care, influence of peer groups and unemployment as some of the factors responsible for drug abuse among youth.
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