A consultant psychiatrist at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Dr. Abdulfatai Bakari yesterday called for decisive measures to curb rising cases of addiction particularly among married women in Sokoto and other northern states.
This is just as Sokoto Governor Aminu Tambuwal urged the Federal Government to ban the sale of codeine syrup in the country.
They spoke at a workshop on Addiction and Prevention held at the Sultan Maccido Institute of Quran and General Studies, Sokoto.
“It is very worrisome that in Sokoto and some northern states, many married women are addicted to various substances especially codeine, tutolin, cannabis and Sheehan,” Bakari said, adding that the trend was not only with married women but with adolescent females, and that many undergraduates in some tertiary institutions in the state had dropped out of school because of addiction to drugs.
Speaking, Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who was represented by the state Commissioner of Health, Dr. Balarabe Kakale, said, “The Federal Government should ban the sale of codeine in Nigeria because they are not life saving drugs.”
The Chairman, National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Col. Muhammad Abdullah, decried the negative impact of drug abuse on the society.
Abdullah who was represented by the Commander of NDLEA, Sokoto Command, Mr. Misbahu Idris, urged all stakeholders to enhance efforts towards tackling the menace.
