“In Nigeria today, there is no challenge that is more worrisome than drug abuse. For instance, insurgency, kidnapping, and banditry are seen as peculiar to certain parts of the country, but drug abuse has no boundary or respect for ethnicity or religion.
“The menace is so worrisome that within the last two months, more than N60 billion worth of illicit drugs have been seized and perpetrators arrested and prosecuted. If access to drugs is prevented, criminality can be reduced by 50 percent,’’ Marwa said.
He called for concerted efforts by stakeholders to campaign against the use of illicit drugs.
Declaring open the event, Ekiti State governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, restated the commitment of his administration to reducing drug abuse.
Fayemi, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, urged participants to take the deliberation seriously and to evolve implementable plans to rid the society of the menace.
In his address of welcome, Ekiti State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Wale Fapounda, said that the programme was organized because of alarming cases of drug-induced criminality in the society.
“In most cases prosecuted by the ministry, investigations showed crime perpetrators were under the influence of drugs,’’ he said.