A coalition of civil society organizations and stakeholders in Kano State have urged the state government and law enforcement agencies not to relent in their efforts to ensure that pharmaceutical traders relocate to the Coordinated Wholesale Centre located at Dangwauro, Zaria Road, Kano.
Addressing the journalists in Kano, the spokesperson of the coalition, Gidado Mukhtar, advised all the pharmaceutical traders at the Abubakar Rimi Market to comply with the state government’s directive, which was recently affirmed by a court.
He said the menace of illicit drugs will no longer be tolerated in Kano as it is destroying the future of youths and the society in general.
“We wish to reassure all and sundry that Kano, as a cosmopolitan city, will continue to remain hospitable and welcoming to all.
“However, we will not allow anyone to perpetrate any activity inimical to the well-being of our people.
“We wish to express our sincere appreciation to the state and Federal Government and other stakeholders for their determination to rid the society of illicit drugs in Kano.
“It is our hope that they will redouble their efforts to compliment our renewed and wholesome resolve to fight the menace of drug dealers in Kano.”
The coalition equally applauded the Kano Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, for its support towards various joint initiatives to fight the menace of illicit drugs.
Mukhtar recalled that, since time immemorial, Kano City has been generally known and regarded as commercial nerve centre of the African Savannah from Dakar to port Sudan, adding that it has cultivated a trading network for over 500 years.
He lamented that in recent years, various calculated attempts have been made to destroy Kano through the importation of dangerous and illicit drugs.
According to him, the sad development has become the greatest threat to Kano’s future and by extension the future of Northern Nigeria.
He revealed that statistics obtained from the NDLEA indicated a very alarming and worrisome situation.
“The figures clearly indicate that from the beginning of of this year, that is January to date, psychotropic substances seized in Kano included 5,040,000 pills of tramadol weighing 267.4kg and 249,000 tablets of Exol-5 weighing 81.9kg.
“This is within a span of less than 60 days. We cannot fold our arms and watch helplessly, while the future of our society and that of our human resource is systematically destroyed,” he stated.
OsunDailyNG reports that the seven civil society organizations represented at the joint press conference include Kano Concerned Citizens Initiative, (KCCI), Kano Leadership Enlightenment and Advocacy Development Initiative, (KLEADS), Inuwar Kano, Kano Peace and Development Initiative, (KAPEDI), Northern Reform Organisation, Kano Youth Promotion Council, (KYPC) and League for Societal Protection Against Drug Abuse.
