The Delta State Government would launched an intensified campaign against drug abuse, aiming to curb the rising menace and protect public health and safety.
This initiative seeks to raise awareness, enforce stricter regulations, and provide rehabilitation support for affected individuals.
Through community engagement, educational programmes, and law enforcement collaboration, the government is determined to tackle substance abuse at its root.
The Director General of the State Bureau of Orientation and Communications, Olorogun Dr. Fred Latimore Oghenesivbe during a pre-flag off press conference on Wednesday January 29, 2025, emphasized the urgent need for collective action, calling on stakeholders, including families, schools, journalists and religious institutions, to join forces in combating this growing threat to society.
The DG revealed that the governor would be present at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba, for the official flag-off of the campaign Monday February 3, 2025.
Hear him: “So there are schools that we have been able to map out and from on the 3rd of February to the 18th we will be on the road on this campaign to sensitize the students of the need to abstain from hard drugs and drug abuse.
“Sir, the Governor is not happy with it. I am sure you are aware that in July last year, 2023, these men were at Okpanam Road here trying to apprehend some drug sellers.
“They were able to get some drugs.
And in the process, you know, there was a stray bullet that got to Ivan and then his other brother got injured on his eyes.
“And that incident really pains the His Excellency the governor and from that time up to now he has been persuading this Bureau to do something critical about sensitization concerning drug abuse and use of illicit drugs in the state.
“And he also directed the Bureau to work very closely with the State Commander of the NDLEA who is sitting on my right hand side and we have a working agreement
on how this sensitization will go.
“So the idea is that, we want the media to help us to propagate this campaign to be able to help us bring this message, drive it to a logical conclusion on a regular basis.
“As we move around we will be sending you our clips and our stories and what we have achieved in our campaign process” appealing to members of the press to also help to disseminate the information through various channels to the members of the public.
Speaking further, the DSOCB boss, said: “The idea behind this is also to make sure that as we go along on this campaign, the NDLEA already established a very important club that they want all the secondary schools in the state to adopt so that in every secondary school, you have what they call War Against Drug Abuse (WADA).
“That WADA club is monitored closely by the NDLEA state Command and we also partnering with them in that regard to make sure that in those secondary schools as we sensitize them we also ensure that WADA is established in every College in the state.
“The idea of WADA is that the students will always come together and discuss the negative effects of drug abuse and illicit drugs and then they do what they call this drama to portray it and the quiz
competition, essay writing and they will provide handsome prizes for winners of these competitions as a way of sending the message across to them that drug abuse is something that we do not want in Delta State.
The Commander of Narcotics, Abubakar Wada, Esq., State Commander of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the State Director, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mrs. Tracy Ikolomi, highlighted their agencies’ ongoing efforts to combat drug abuse and illicit drug use.
They also urged stakeholders to collaborate with the State Bureau of Orientation and Communications, NDLEA, and NOA in order to eradicate the menace and ensure a drug-free Delta State.
