AFRICA/NIGERIA - President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference: "The explosion of crimes in Nigeria is related to the spread of drugs among young people"

Monday, 4 November 2024 drugs criminality youth bishops

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Abuja (Agenzia Fides) – “Our young people are excessive consumers of hard drugs and do all kinds of unimaginable things. They arm themselves, steal and kidnap fellow citizens. How can we explain that today people are being killed senselessly, as if human life were not precious and inalienable?”, said Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, Metropolitan Archbishop of Owerri and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN). According to the archbishop, the “explosion of crime in Nigeria is linked to the spread of drugs among young people”, pointing to the consumption of hard drugs as a key factor in criminal acts that seriously endanger peaceful coexistence in the country.
The prelate recalled the Biafra conflict, expressing his concern: “It seems that we are suffering more than during the 30-month war between Nigeria and Biafra, caused by the sheer greed of our leaders,” referring to the civil war that took place between 1967 and 1970. Msgr. Ugorji also questioned the origin of the violence, stating that “if these horrible things had not been caused by the use of hard drugs, what would we have attributed these actions to?”. He also stressed that “the perpetrators of these crimes come from our communities. They do not come from nowhere. They are not really unknown gunmen, as they are often described.”
According to the 2018 UNODC report ‘Drug use in Nigeria’, which was the first large-scale national survey on drug use in Nigeria, one in seven people (aged 15 to 64) has used drugs in the past year. In addition, one in five people who have used drugs in the past year suffer from drug-related disorders.
Also, according to the UNODC, drug use is behind many crimes such as theft, burglary, prostitution and shoplifting. There are also crimes directly related to drug trafficking. Gangs and criminal networks involved in drug trafficking resort to bribery, intimidation and murder to protect their business. Violence associated with drug trafficking further increases the crime rate, helping to perpetuate lawlessness and insecurity.
The spread of drugs among young people is also encouraged by videos of local rappers praising their use.
Despite the measures taken by the Nigerian authorities to combat the phenomenon, in 2021 the number of Nigerians who are regular drug users was at least 14 million according to the Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Among the most popular substances, especially among young people, are cannabis, cocaine, heroin, diazepam, tramadol, amphetamines and codeine.
In Nigeria, a bill is being considered to sentence drug traffickers to the death penalty, which is provoking strong reactions from lawyers and human rights defenders, who consider it unnecessary and inhumane (the current law provides for up to life imprisonment for the most serious cases of drug trafficking). (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides, 4/11/2024)