The Nasarawa State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), has arrested 56 suspects?for illegal possession of hard drugs and trafficking between January and June this year.
The Commander of the agency, Mr Mota'a Dishidi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lafia, that three?of them had?been convicted, while six others were awaiting trial.
He called on parents to establish closer ties with their wards to check the high rate of drug abuse in the state, stressing that most parents did not give adequate attention to the activities of their children.
“Parents must take time to study their?children. When you call them and they cannot look at you straight in the face, know that they are up to something.
“Also try to study the kind of friends they keep as peer pressure plays a major role,” he said.
Dishidi decried the rising rate of drug abuse and trafficking in the state, adding that?the agency was constrained by the lack of equipment to effectively tackle the menace.
“There are places here in Lafia and other parts of the state that once it is 7?p.m., nobody dares to go there except such a person is an accomplice in the business.”
He said the agency co-opted some members of the various communities as informants and had been helping with relevant information leading to the arrest of many drug peddlers in the state.
Dishidi also said the agency had been receiving threat messages of impending attacks on its facilities in the state.
He,?however, said?it would not?deter the agency from?carrying out its?responsibility of safeguarding the future of the youth.
The commander?called for the support of members of the public.
“If we do not do our job of enforcing the law prohibiting the possession, use and trafficking of dangerous drugs, your children, wards or siblings will go mad and jeopardise their future,’’ he said. (NAN)