NOA, CSOs, Others Back Death Penalty for Drug-related Offences
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The National Orientation Agency (NOA), civil society organisations, school administrators, students, and other critical stakeholders in the education and security sectors have called for stiffer penalties such as death penalty for drug related offences.
The stakeholders also called on the federal government to declare a state of emergency on drug abuse, cultism, cybercrime, and other violent crimes.
They made this call yesterday in Abuja at the opening of the 1st National Symposium on “Curbing Cultism, Drug Abuse, Cybercrime, and Other Violent Crimes Amongst Youths in Higher Institutions.”
Fielding questions from reporters during the event, the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, pledged to work with the National Assembly to introduce an executive bill that will push for the death penalty for drug-related crimes.
Represented by the NOA focal person responsible for drugs and narcotics, Okechi Robinson, the DG said that drug abuse is a menace that is pushing the country backwards.
He noted that NOA is a social engineering agency charged with the responsibility of attitudinal reorientation, stressing, “That is exactly what we are doing.”
He said : “From what we see at this symposium, we will take it back to the legal department of my office to fashion out a way to push for stiffer penalties.
“We have a strong relationship with the National Assembly; we will propose to them to do an executive bill to see if the death penalty would be provided for drug-related crimes in Nigeria to stem the tide of substance abuse. It is a menace that is pushing the country backwards.”
In his remarks, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, said that law enforcement alone is not enough to curb crime and criminality in Nigeria.
Represented by the National Coordinator for Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), Olabisi Okuwobi, the IGP recalled how he came up with a non-kinetic approach, such as community engagement and collaboration, towards ensuring that crimes are nipped in the bud.
The Dean of Student Affairs, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. John Odedire, said drug abuse is like a ticking time bomb that any reasonable parent must be concerned about the trend of its abuse on the campuses.
He said: “It is a national issue, and I think it is not out of place if the federal government finds it worthy to declare a state of emergency on it. So, on every side, starting with even our primary schools, secondary schools, and tertiary institutions, we need to come together and wage a war against drug abuse.
“ Why the federal government needs to get involved is because, beyond the four walls of the university, you step into the corner of every street, and they are everywhere. At motor parks, occasions, we have gotten to the stage where people so flagrantly display drugs at parties; it is becoming a status symbol, which is negative for the nation.”
The organiser of the symposium and Team Lead of the Centre for General African Development and Studies, Mr. Christian Igodo, called for the promotion of a dependable and moral compass for the youths.
He stressed that legislators need to see reasons to bring about stringent legislation and laws that will ensure people are deterred from even attempting to engage in peddling, trafficking, or abuse of harmful substances.
The primary objective of the event, he said, is to make Nigerian youths understand that they have no other country than Nigeria, adding that to build a better country, “we must abstain from drug abuse, cultism, gangsterism, and cybercrime.”
“Nigeria is primordially not a drug-producing country, apart from cannabis. Morphine, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine are strange products imported into the country, and we cannot allow these strange products, through the selfishness and greed of a few individuals, to destroy our society,” he said.
