The Kano State Government has reiterated its commitment to eradicating the menace of drug abuse among youths in the state and checking the activities of illicit drug dealers.
To do these, the state government said it had embarked on rigorous awareness campaign on the dangers and repercussions associated with drug and substance abuse, especially among young people.
Speaking to the media in Kano on Tuesday, the Director General of Kano State Directorate of Youth Development and Economic Empowerment, Ado Abba Tudunwada, said it was disheartening to note that youths all over the world were the major victims of drug and substance abuse.
This, he said, was the basis on which the state government found it vital to intensify its fight against drug and illicit trafficking within the state for the purpose of appraising the war against drug and substance abuse and illicit dealing.
Tunduwada said that available records showed that greater percentage of drug peddlers in the state were non-indigenes, while greater percentage of victims of drug abuse were indigenes of the state, mostly youths, women, under-aged children and in some cases married women.
According to him, government in collaboration with anti-drug agencies had seized and destroyed drugs worth billions of naira.
He added that the administration of Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje was committed to ridding the state of illicit drugs and ensuring that anyone found to be dealing in them are apprehended and diligently prosecuted.