Zainab Abioye
Security agencies and civil society organisations have identified drug and substance abuse among Nigerian youths as a major factor fuelling terrorism, kidnapping, cultism and other violent crimes across the country.
The stakeholders, including the Ogun State Police Command, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and community leaders, made the assertion on Saturday during a seminar organised by the Department of Mass Communication, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, held in Abeokuta.
The seminar, themed “Substance Abuse and National Insecurity: Building Responsible Youth Through Entrepreneurship,” brought together security experts, academics and development advocates to examine the growing nexus between drug abuse and insecurity.
Speaking during a panel discussion moderated by the Editor of PLATFORM TIMES, Daud Olatunji, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Oluseyi Babaseyi, said investigations by law enforcement agencies had consistently shown that narcotics were a major catalyst for violent crimes.
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ding to him, insecurity often begins with seemingly insignificant personal choices that gradually erode self-control, moral judgement and respect for the law.
He said, “National insecurity does not begin with terrorism or kidnapping; it often begins with small choices made by individuals, choices that gradually destroy self-control, moral judgment and respect for the law.”
Babaseyi said crimes such as armed robbery, cult-related violence, rape and cybercrime were frequently perpetrated by persons under the influence of hard drugs, adding that criminal gangs deliberately prey on addicted youths to carry out illicit activities.
The police spokesman said the command, under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, Bode Ojajuni, had intensified intelligence-led policing, community engagement, school sensitisation campaigns and collaboration with other security agencies to address the root causes of crime.
Also speaking, the spokesperson for the NDLEA in Ogun State, ASN Haris Musa, represented by ASN Yusuf Orisadare, said substance abuse had become a major enabler of violent criminal activities.
He noted that crimes such as murder, kidnapping, terrorism and armed robbery were often linked to drug addiction or committed under the influence of psychoactive substances.
According to him, the agency remains concerned about the increasing abuse of cannabis, methamphetamine, tramadol, rohypnol, as well as locally prepared illicit mixtures such as skuchies and colos, including the inhalation of fermented chemical substances.
“If drug abuse can be tackled effectively, the issues of robbery, cultism, kidnapping, terrorism, murder and banditry will be drastically regulated,” he said.
Orisadare disclosed that the agency had recently secured several convictions against drug offenders, including the sentencing of a 78-year-old man to 28 years’ imprisonment.
The President of the Asiwaju Dapo Wahab Foundation, Dapo Wahab, attributed the increasing involvement of youths in crime to widespread hopelessness, unemployment and lack of opportunities.
He stressed that while security operations remained necessary, sustainable peace could only be achieved through youth empowerment and entrepreneurship.
“If we refuse to engage and empower our youths legitimately, armed robbers, drug dealers and kidnappers will come around and empower them. Replacing hopelessness with productivity and purpose is how we secure our communities,” Wahab said.
Similarly, the Founder of M19 Event Consort, Mrs Bola Solate, described entrepreneurship as a strategic tool for tackling youth restiveness and reducing criminal tendencies.
She urged governments and financial institutions to improve access to funding for young entrepreneurs, while encouraging students to combine formal education with practical vocational skills.
“An idle hand may become a tool for crime, but a skilled hand becomes a tool for national development,” she said.
Earlier, the Director of the centre, Mr Adekunle Durosimi, warned that substance abuse posed a serious threat to national stability by exposing young people to criminal activities and social disintegration.
He urged parents, teachers and other stakeholders to pay closer attention to the behavioural patterns of young people through proper guidance and early intervention.
Durosimi also advised undergraduates to shun drug abuse, remain committed to their education and embrace innovation and entrepreneurship as pathways to responsible and productive living.
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