By Abdullahi Yusuf
The Kano State Multi Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Trafficking says it plans to take off the streets 10,000 youths as part of its efforts in combating drug abuse and trafficking in the state.
The Chairman of the Agency, Barrister Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado, disclosed this during an interactive session with Journalists in Kano on Saturday.
“We are aiming to take 10,000 youths off the streets within one year.They will undergo detoxification, which is a very serious process; we will starve them of the drugs, using all necessary medical procedures.Then we will take them to rehabilitation,” Rimingado said.
During the rehabilitation, he said, the youths would be given career guidance and then expose them to all the necessary knowledge they need to renounce drug abuse and trafficking.
He said the exercise would be extended to Correctional Centres where the inmates whom indulged in drug abuse would be exposed to the process of detoxification, rehabilitation and integration.
“His Excellency Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf has approved the inclusion of prison services in our committee where the Controller of Prison services is equally a member of the committee.
” So, we are going to work with them,and even the inmates that have been sent to correctional centres will be exposed to the process of detoxification, rehabilitation and integration,”
To integrate the teeming youths, the chairman said, the task force would employ a mechanism to train them, and would, therefore,enter into a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the relevant stakeholders to achieve the objective.
He said the training would be on craftsmanship such as garment making, electrical works and phone repairs which would enable the youths to become productive members of the society on graduation.
“Between now and one year, we want these 10,000 youths to have something doing that will keep them busy; that will give them income that will sustain them and make them become productive members of society.
“Even those of them that are convicted to go to prison they would come back and be good members of the society.
“We have a dual mandate – to suppress Daba Gang and we are at the same time to fight illicit drug trafficking and abuse.This is a very serious assignment, but we thank Allah(SWT) we are succeeding,” Rimingado added.