Kano Targets Rehabilitation of 10,000 Youths Over Drug Abuse

The Kano State Multi-Agency Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking says it plans to remove more than 10,000 drug abusers from the streets and provide them with rehabilitation and skills-acquisition training.

The chairman of the task force, Muhuyi Rimin Gado, disclosed this while briefing journalists at the agency’s headquarters on Tuesday.

He said the initiative is aimed at rehabilitating affected youths, equipping them with vocational skills and helping them reintegrate into society as responsible and productive members of their communities.

“Our target is to sweep 10,000 youths off the streets, rehabilitate them, and train them in skills acquisition, so that they can go back into society fully informed, reformed, and as people of trust and confidence to the community,” Rimin Gado said.

He disclosed that Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, had provided an additional facility in Tofa Local Government Area to serve as an extension of the existing Kano Reformatory Institute in Kiru.

According to him, the new facility will be equipped and put into use immediately to meet the growing demand for rehabilitation services and ensure that people seeking help are not turned away.

Rimin Gado said the state government decided to expand the rehabilitation facilities because of increased public acceptance of the task force’s operations.

He noted that more families were now voluntarily bringing relatives struggling with drug abuse for treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration, resulting in the Kiru facility reaching full capacity.

The task force chairman also disclosed that the agency had so far referred about 125 individuals to the Kano Reformatory Institute for rehabilitation.

He described drug abuse as a health condition requiring a healing and rehabilitation process, adding that the task force was engaging industrial stakeholders to create employment, skills-acquisition and other productive opportunities for rehabilitated youths.

Rimin Gado also revealed that the task force had acted on a complaint involving the alleged illegal administration of Pentazocine to a 63-year-old woman by the former chairman of Rogo Local Government Area, Yahuza Musa.

He said the allegation was corroborated by a 24-year-old man who claimed to have spent more than ₦10 million and a plot of land purchasing the same injection from the former chairman.

According to him, the former chairman has been charged before a competent court and the case is ongoing.

Rimin Gado commended security agencies, including the NDLEA, Police, DSS, NSCDC, Customs, Correctional Service, KOSSAP, Vigilante, Hisbah and KAROTA, for their contributions to the task force’s operations.

He also urged members of the public to continue providing timely information to the task force to help keep Kano’s streets safe and support efforts to combat drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

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