NDLEA decries high rate of drug abuse in A’Ibom; seeks community involvement, logistics support

Akwa Ibom State Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Mrs. Obot Bassey has decried the high rate of drug abuse in the state.

She made the remarks during the 2025 Feast of Barracuda in Eket on Monday, with the theme, High Cost of Getting High: Unmasking the Real Price of Drug Abuse.

According to our Correspondent the National Association of Seadogs (NAS), also known as Pyrates Confraternity, Atlantic Shores Deck, Eket Chapter sponsored the event.

Bassey, who was represented by Mr Ojukwu Obidi, the Area Commander, Eket Area Command, said that drug abuse was alarming in the state.

“In Akwa Ibom alone, the rate of drug abuse is very high.

“No where I have been to, that I see the number of mentally challenged people that I can compare to what I have seen in Akwa Ibom.

“Drug abuse is alarming in Akwa Ibom because Akwa Ibomites have normalise drug abuse, they see it as nothing, they see it as way of promoting the economy and sustaining themselves,” Bassey said.

She lamented that young adults take combine, adding that combine was made up of Marijuana and Alcohol which could lead to mental health challenges.

“If you go to social gatherings in Akwa Ibom, hardly will you not see young adult taking combine and you know that their genetics make up are different, which lead many of them to mental health challenges,” she said.

The State Commander said that NDLEA had seized over 804 kg of hard drugs in 2025 alone and convicted 38 people who are currently serving their sentences.

“This year alone, we have arrested 312 suspects in Akwa Ibom. If you look at the people we have arrested already, the cost to their families and communities are very high,” she said.

According to her, the cost of drug abuse, if you look at our society today, you will find out that violent crimes are increasing like kidnapping tourist, rape, armed robbery due to drug abuse.

Bassey appealed to the association to assist the agency in logistics in order to carry out their mandate effectively.

The State Commander said the agency carried out sensitisation programme every week to disabuse the mind of people on drug abuse in the state while lamenting that the country was losing young people to drugs.

She thanked the association for drug advocacy for recognising the NDLEA and national crises facing the country.

In his welcome speech, Cap’n Idongesit Ifon, the President of NAS, Pyrates Confraternity Atlantic Shores Deck, Eket said any member caught involved in drug abuse would be expel.

“My member do not get involved in drugs, anyone that is caught, would be expel from the association,” Ifon said.

The President said this year’s theme, was not only timely but urgent.

He said the country and communities were witnessing the corrosive effects of drug abuse from shattered lives and broken families to rising crime, poor mental health and weakened institutions.

“It is a growing menace that demands collective awareness and deliberate, strategic intervention, “he said.

He said that Barracuda was a feared predator, swift, cunning and destructive, adding that it lurks beneath the surface, striking at will and making the waters unsafe.

“But when the barracuda is caught, when it is subdued. It is a moment of triumph and celebration because peace returns to the waters,” he said.

Ifon said the barracuda has become a symbolism of all the ills, injustices and forces of oppression that threaten the attainment of a just and egalitarian society.

He urged the people to engage fully to listen, learn, ask questions because the battle against drug abuse was one that requires all hands-on deck.

“Let the feast mark a turning point in our shared fight to protect the vulnerable, uplift our youth and restore dignity to our society,” he said.