Most criminal activities drug-induced – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has lamented the increasing crime rates in the country saying most of them were drug-induced.

The former president also decried the emergence of cults in secondary and primary schools.

• ESN kills medicine man for failed protection
• Buhari: Illicit drugs war deadlier than insurgency, banditry, kidnapping

According to him, this was quite unfortunate as it adds to the already alarming security situation in the country.

“Now we have cults in primary and secondary schools, then it was in tertiary institutions, but you now see children in these schools thinking of how to kill their mates, this is sad,” Jonathan said.

Goodluck Jonathan who was speaking when the management of The Albino Foundation and its partners paid him a courtesy visit to appreciate him for paying the bills of persons with albinism to undergo surgery against cancer abroad noted that most areas of the health system need to be revamped to meet international standards.

Participating through a webinar on Friday, the elder statesman added that with all the issues bedeviling the country, incidences of mental health have suddenly become a challenge as most Nigerians are presently traumatized with the happenings in society.

“Most of these crimes perpetuated are drug-induced, because no sane Nigerian will just go and commit crimes except he is high on something.

“Imagine starting your day with the news of killing in the morning, it leaves an impression on your mind. We need to also look into issues of mental health as well,’ Jonathan said.

He commended the Albino Foundation for its laudable interventions towards making live impactful for persons with disabilities while encouraging them to brace themselves to tackle new challenges either in the health sector or other areas.

Earlier the Chief Executive Officer of The Albino Foundation, Jake Epelle, commended the former president for being the first president to pay the bills of persons with albinism to secure treatment which is quite expensive both within and outside the country.

He urged the former president to be the voice that speaks for persons with disabilities, and pleaded that his foundation would like to partner with the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation for the interest of persons with disabilities.

Epelle also presented an award to the former president for his worthy interventions for persons with disabilities and invited him to chair a National Dialogue on Persons with Disabilities scheduled to hold later in the year.

The programme coordinator of the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES), Hamza Fassi Fihri, who noted that they have done a lot of work in enhancing electoral processes across the country added that they would like to partner with the former president to share experiences on the peaceful transition of governance in Nigeria.

He said that they have been working in Nigeria since 2017 to improve the participation of persons with disabilities in electoral processes.

Others at the courtesy visit include the assistant program coordinator of ECES, Wilson Manji and the Federal Radio Cooperation of Nigeria (FRCN) Programme Director, Msurhima Kighir.