The Kano State Government is expanding its campaign against drug abuse beyond arrests and prosecution, with a renewed focus on rehabilitation, skills acquisition and reintegration of former drug users into society.
Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf announced the approach on Thursday while inaugurating a Quick Response Squad of the Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and unveiling operational equipment worth hundreds of millions of naira.
Yusuf said tackling substance abuse required more than enforcement, stressing that people who had undergone rehabilitation must be given opportunities to acquire skills and earn legitimate livelihoods.
According to him, providing such opportunities would help prevent former drug users from returning to substance abuse and other criminal activities.
The governor said his administration would sustain skills acquisition and apprenticeship programmes as part of efforts to address the social and economic factors associated with drug abuse.
“I am the happiest man in Kano today as we continue to push drug abuse down to the barest minimum,” he said.
The newly inaugurated Quick Response Squad is expected to strengthen the task force’s ability to respond swiftly to drug-related incidents, reports and emerging security threats.
Yusuf said the operational equipment provided to the agency would improve its capacity to confront substance abuse and illicit trafficking across the state.
He commended the task force for its efforts, describing collaboration among government agencies and other stakeholders as essential to tackling the menace.
The governor, accompanied by the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, Jibril Ismaila Falgore, and other senior officials, inspected the facility and equipment unveiled at the ceremony.
Chairman of the task force, Muhyi Magaji Rimin Gado, said the new squad and equipment would strengthen enforcement and improve the agency’s response to drug-related challenges.
He assured the governor that the task force would sustain its operations and deepen cooperation with relevant agencies.
Rimin Gado also emphasised that the campaign required the involvement of parents, schools, traditional and religious leaders, communities, security agencies and other stakeholders.
He said the task force would continue to combine prevention, enforcement, rehabilitation and reintegration in its efforts to reduce drug abuse and illicit trafficking in Kano State.