Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has said there is a direct relationship between drug addiction and increase in crime and criminality.
Governor Diri stated this at the Peace Park in Yenagoa during a sensitization walk/campaign against drug abuse to mark this year’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
The governor said in a bid to address the menace associated with drug abuse, his government constituted a Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee with well qualified personnel in the field.
He noted that crime and criminality were intertwined with drug abuse, and that for this reason the committee was set up to prevent lives of the young ones from wasting away.
He emphasized that his government was determined to rescue those caught in the drug addiction web by building a rehabilitation centre in the state.
He appealed to youths and the enlightened on the dangers of drug addiction to join the campaign against the illicit act.
Governor Diri also cautioned politicians against influencing the youths negatively on illicit drug use, urging them to desist from the inhumane act or be ready to face the circumstances that come with it.
He thanked the Drug Abuse Prevention and Rehabilitation Committee for always being proactive in the fight against drug abuse and addiction.
In her opening remarks, chairperson of the committee, Dr. Faith Zibs-Godwin, noted that the UN General Assembly in nineteen-eighty-seven decided to observe every June twenty-sixth as international day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking as an expression of its determination to achieve its goal of a society free from drug abuse.
Mrs. Zibs-Godwin stressed that the motive of this year’s theme, which is “Addressing Drug Challenges in Health and Humanitarian Crisis” was to raise role models that will help others live a normal life and empower them to deal with life’s challenges.
Also, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Tonye Azebi, said drug abuse was gradually finding its way into every home through self-medication and use of un-prescribed drugs
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