Presidential committee sensitises drug dealers, bus drivers on abuse

Luxury Drivers Union in Kano has been called upon to shun consignments of illicit drugs from drug peddlers in the state.

The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee for the Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA), Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), on Friday made the appeal while interacting with the drivers and Kano chapter of Nigerian Association of Patent Medicine Dealers.

Marwa explained that the session with the drivers was because most of the illicit drugs were transported into the state through commercial vehicles, especially the luxury buses.

He, therefore, appealed to the union to always ensure that their drivers and assistants were responsible persons and could not connive with the drug peddlers, adding the drivers should undergo drug test before they were engaged.

The committee chairman called on patent medicine dealers to always ensure that their members were registered, and were not into the supply of illicit drugs.

According to him, the meeting is part of the committee’s working visit to Kano and it is aimed at finding ways of tackling the rampant cases of drug abuse in the country.

He told the people that the committee was set up by President Muhammad Buhari to try and identify causes of drug abuse in the country and get suggestions of stakeholders on measures to check the menace.

“The fight against drug abuse will not be achieved if its ways of supply into the country is not traced and blocked,” he said.

On their parts, the union and the drug dealers pledged to give the committee all necessary support to carry its duties of sanitizing their businesses and ensure that drug abuse became a thing of the past.