THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recommended drug-free certificates as part of wedding requirements to curb violence and abuse in marriages.
The NDLEA chairman, Mohammed Buba Marwa, said drug tests should be mandatory for intending couples, similar to HIV/AIDS and genotype tests, to prevent domestic violence fueled by substance abuse.
Marwa said this in his welcome address at a training workshop organised by the agency for the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses’ Forum (NGSF) in Abuja on Tuesday, May 6.
Addressing participants, Marwa said, “I would like to encourage your excellencies, when you go back, engage your dear husbands on the need for drug-free certificates at weddings.
“This may appear a small matter, but it is at the root of some of the challenges we face. There is absolutely no reason why you do HIV, genotype, and so on, and the most important is actually the drug-free certificates because our daughters daily are chased around by husbands after they are intoxicated with drugs,” he stated.
He said he recently got a call from a man whose daughter got married three months ago and her husband, under the influence of drugs threatened to kill her with a knife while chasing her around the house.
He said one of the ways to address violence in marriage is to ask intending couples to bring their drug-free certificates before wedding, to enable them to know how if either party takes drug.
Marwa also noted that drugs could obstruct progress in families.
62,595 drug suspects arrested
Marwa said that under the Drug Supply Reduction Mandate encompassing drug seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, the agency recorded the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects (including 68 drug barons), seized 10,317,137.55 kilogrammes of assorted drugs, and secured the conviction of 11,628 offenders.
Besides, he said 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis farms were identified and destroyed.
Training apt – First Lady
In her keynote address, the First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, who was represented by the wife of the Deputy Senate President, Laila Jibrin Barau, commended the NDLEA “for courageously confronting the fight against illicit drug abuse and trafficking in the country.”
She said the training was timely, given the alarming statistics and prevalence of drug abuse in communities, which she said posed a threat to the nation.
“I urge you to continue to provide the right direction through prevention initiatives, advocate for those whose voices have been silenced by addiction, provide community interventions to support recovery and reintegrating people into communities after treatment,” Mrs Tinubu stated.
The First Lady urged participants to tackle the challenge of drug abuse with determination and commitment.
Also speaking at the event, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Country Representative, Cheikh Ousmane Toure, emphasised that solutions to drug crisis must come from communities..
He urged state governments, particularly the First Ladies, to utilise their influence to mobilise resources, prioritise drug control efforts, and establish state-specific task forces and community centres for prevention and treatment.
Similar thoughts were echoed by the Head of the ECOWAS Drug Prevention and Control Division, Daniel Amankwaah, who encouraged state governments to invest in prevention and treatment initiatives at the state and community levels.
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