Drug Abuse Now Affecting Many Younger Children Aged 12 To 13 Years – Trainer

A trainer with the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Elizabeth Atuman, has said cause maltreatment is present affecting galore younger children crossed Nigeria.

Atuman, who stated this successful an interrogation with journalists astatine a grooming for Kaduna teachers sponsored by the MTN Foundation, said the programme is simply a student-based cause prevention inaugural for children aged 10 to 15.

She called connected parents to beryllium much progressive successful their children’s lives to usher against substance abuse, “We person seen cases of 12 and 13-year-olds utilizing unsafe mixtures. Some incidents astir led to death. Teachers unsocial can’t bash it. Parents indispensable usher their children. Some children transcript what they spot astatine home.” Atuman said.

Another trainer with the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the national ministry of acquisition staff, Jude Ikenye, said the student-based cause prevention initiative, which began successful 2018, has already trained hundreds of teachers and reached thousands of students crossed respective states.

Ikenye noted that Kebbi State was the archetypal to follow the programme, grooming 159 teachers from 69 nationalist schools successful 2018.

He added that successful 2021, Kebbi trained different 88 teachers from 57 schools, noting that the authorities remains a cardinal task sponsor.

“The programme gained further momentum done a concern with MTN and UNODC, expanding to Oyo, Rivers, Kano, Imo, Delta, Bayelsa, and the Federal Capital Territory.

“In these states, 30 teachers from 10 schools were trained. Bayelsa recorded higher numbers, with 136 teachers from 63 schools benefiting from state-supported training, “Ikenye said.

He recalled that Kaduna authorities was the archetypal to instrumentality the exemplary and has trained the highest fig of teachers. Two information sets bespeak that 2,414 and 1,639 students person straight benefited. But the broader people is ambitious, reaching students crossed Nigeria’s 228,000 secondary schools, including implicit 110,000 nationalist institutions.” Ikenye said.