JNI, CAN advocate strict penalties for drug abusers

The Jamaa’tu Nasril Islam (JNI) and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has advocated for strict penalty for drug dealers following the incessant cases of drug abuse especially among youth.

JNI advocated death penalty for drug dealers to serve as a deterrent to drug and substance abusers while CAN suggested full enforcement of existing laws on drug offenders.

In their separate remarks during a meeting with members of Presidential Advisory Committee on Elimination of Drug Abuse (PACEDA) led by Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (rtd) who are in Kaduna as part of their nationwide consultations on the elimination of drug abuse, the Secretary, CAN Kaduna state chapter, Reverend Sunday Ibrahim lamented on the weak enforcement of existing laws on drug use and drug abuse by implementers especially the Nigerian Police and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), who intercept and arrest drug pushers only to be released back into the society within a few hours after the arrest.

“With this committee and the calibre of people in it, it means we are very serious as country about this matter. We have seen situations where these people were intercepted but were later freed without trial and then become threat to people around them.”

“We have so many laws but we are not strict in enforcing them. From our pulpits, we have been teaching and preaching against drug abuse, telling our members its implications and we will continue to do that.”

Speaking at the JNI headquarters, Secretary-General JNI, Dr. Khalid Abubakar, said the time had come for the all Nigerians to address the menace of drug abuse squarely as it is done in places like Europe and Middle East.