Monday, August 31, 2026 - The Kano State Government has set a target of taking 10,000 drug users off the streets and rehabilitating them within one year as part of a new strategy to tackle substance abuse and its links to violent crime.
The Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Joint Task Force on
Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado, disclosed this on
Saturday while outlining the government’s planned intervention for drug users,
convicted offenders and vulnerable youths involved in substance abuse.
Rimin-Gado said the initiative would go beyond arrests and
imprisonment by combining detoxification, rehabilitation, skills acquisition
and economic empowerment to help former drug users reintegrate into society.
“Our goal is to take away 10,000 people from the streets
within one year. This is a different approach from only taking them to prison.
We are thinking about rehabilitation,” he said.
He explained that the process would begin with
detoxification, after which beneficiaries would be enrolled in rehabilitation
programmes and equipped with skills to make them economically productive.
“After what we call detoxification, we will take them to
rehabilitation and guide them. All this will expose them to the necessary
knowledge they need to address drug abuse, including training,” Rimin-Gado
said.
According to him, the government plans to train
beneficiaries in areas including tailoring, shoemaking, garment production and
other crafts, with plans to expand the programme to additional trades and
services.
“We are going to employ a mechanism where we will give
training, including different kinds of craftsmanship that they would engage
in,” he said
The task force chairman said the intervention was designed
to address the link between drug abuse, unemployment and violent crime,
particularly gun violence involving youths.
“If you look at our operations, when going after these
youths, it is not because we hate them or do not want them. It is because we
want them rehabilitated,” he said.
Rimin-Gado said the government had also begun discussions
with correctional authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that people
released from correctional facilities could undergo rehabilitation and acquire
skills to support their reintegration.
He said some drug users would be treated differently
depending on the severity of their substance abuse, adding that those found
with multiple substances could face prosecution, while others could be placed
under the care of their parents or guardians.
The chairman said the planned intervention would also create
economic opportunities by linking rehabilitated persons with markets in Kano,
arguing that the approach could simultaneously reduce drug dependence and
strengthen the state’s economy.
“We do not only eradicate the issue of drug dependence, drug
abuse or gun violence; at the same time, we are building our economic
potential,” he said.
Rimin-Gado described the programme as ambitious but
expressed confidence that collaboration among government agencies, security
institutions, correctional authorities, private-sector players and other
stakeholders would make it successful.
“It’s a very ambitious project, but at least the government
is very determined, and with the National [agencies] on board, we are going to
succeed,” he said.
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