Drug use to increase by 40% in 2030 in Africa – UNODC

National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime, (UNODC), have called for intensified effort in seizure of proceeds of illicit drugs trafficking from convicted traffickers.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba-Marwa (retd), stated this at a press conference to kickstart weeklong activities marking the 2024 International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking themed ‘The Evidence is Clear, Let Us Invest in Prevention’, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Represented by the secretary of the agency, Haruna Shedrach, he said the reason why the agency is targeting assets of drug cartels is to cripple their networks in a new offensive against substance abuse.

In Partnership with the UNODC, Marwa said the passage of Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA 2022), has further strengthened prosecution efforts of the NDLEA.

“Apart from conviction, the assets of the convicts used as instrumentality of the crime or the proceeds derived from the crime would be forfeited to the federal government.

“Indeed, a civil action in rem could be maintained against assets reasonably suspected to be proceeds of crime in which case the burden of proving the licit origin of the asset would be on the defendant who claims ownership of the asset.

“As you are all aware, two serial traffickers got life imprisonment in court in April. 2024 as our prosecution efforts continued to achieve successes in courts given the painstaking investigations and diligence in the prosecution of cases. Our water tight case preparations are unassailable. This has been further strengthened with our forfeiture regime with the passage of Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA 2022).”

Marwa added that the NDLEA’s offensive action against drug cartels and traffickers, launched in January 2021, has to date continued to yield the desired result with the arrests and prosecutions of several barons.

While warning that more Nigerian youth are at risk of engaging in drug use in the next six years, Deputy Country Representative, UNODC, Danilo Campisi said that the 2018 national drug use survey shows that Nigeria has a drug use prevalence of 14.4 per cent among it youth population aged 25-39 years.

“We know from the 2018 National Drug Use Survey for Nigeria, that the youth prevalence of drug use in Nigeria is considerably high. The survey estimated drug use prevalence in Nigeria at 14.4 percent, which was at the time, 3 time above the global prevalence of drug use and indicated that drug use was most prevalent among young people between the ages of 25 and 39 years.

He said “Further, projections show that by 2030, there will be a 40% increase in the use of drugs in Africa, based on the population of young people. This is extremely concerning, if we consider that 2030 is only 6 years away.”

Campisi pointed that with increase in drug use, it is imperative for stakeholders to harness and adopt science based approaches that prioritizes treatment and prevention.

“We are all familiar with the saying: “prevention is better than cure” and considering the data and projections, it has become even more critical for Nigeria to invest heavily in drug use preventive measures.

“I do not think it would be an exaggeration to describe this as a national emergency. If the country is to take on the challenge of this projected increase in drug use, it is imperative that it adopts scientific evidencebased approaches that prioritise Prevention and Treatment.

He also called for increased investment in the fight against illicit substance noting that “considering the data and projections, it has become even more critical for Nigeria to invest heavily in drug use preventive measures. I do not think it would be an exaggeration to describe this as a national emergency.”