The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Akwa Ibom State Command, says it has arrested about 412 suspected drug traffickers in the state between June 2018 and June 2019.
It added that within the period under review, the command also seized a total of 322.5kg of hard drugs.
The State Commander, Mr Mohammed Sokoto, disclosed this in Uyo on Wednesday while briefing newsmen on the activities of the agency to mark the 2019 International Day against Drug Abuse and Trafficking.
He explained that out of the total number of suspects apprehended, 56 were females while 356 were males. He said the command secured 20 convictions within the period.
Sokoto further explained that the command during the period rehabilitated 10 persons and integrated them back to the society.
On the dangers of drug abuse, Sokoto said, “The effects of drug abuse are devastating, as drugs have social, physical and psychological consequences on the individual user, the immediate family and general society.
“The social effects are social unrest, political violence, disruption of election process, drop out of school, disobedience to parents and authorities, cultism, rape, armed robbery, burglary and theft.
“The psychological problems include injury to the brain, psychomotor disorder leading to the psychosis and mental disorder among others.”
The state commander said the command would continue in its sensitisation exercise to secondary schools in the state to inform them early on the consequences of drug abuse.
Sokoto lamented that the command would have achieved more if not for some challenges confronting the agency in the state such as inadequate monitoring vehicles and other logistics.
“The Command has only one serviceable Hilux vehicle to transverse all the 31 Local Government Areas of the state,” he said.
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