The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has raised a serious alarm over the increasing involvement of housewives, women, and elderly men in the "coded" trading and trafficking of illicit drugs within Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

The Kwara State Commander, Fatimah Popoola, spoke in the local Yoruba language during a sensitisation exercise held in an Ilorin community. She revealed that the agency has received numerous complaints regarding this disturbing trend, which she described as a grave threat to the future of the youth.

Popoola explained that drug abuse is inextricably linked to rising criminal activities, including terrorism, banditry, and other forms of violence. She emphasised that tackling this menace requires sustained and urgent collaboration between the NDLEA and critical stakeholders across the state.

Supporting this view, the Global Coordinator of the Ilorin Women Association, Professor Aishat Gobir, described drug abuse as an epidemic that has reached alarming levels, now affecting very young children of both sexes.

Furthermore, anti-drug ambassador Nasir Abdulkadri lamented the rising culture of substance abuse in Nigeria, attributing much of the crisis to poor parenting. He called on Islamic clerics in the state to declare a "state of emergency" on drug abuse and urged them to intensify sermons against the trade, particularly during the upcoming month of Ramadan.

The NDLEA and its partners jointly appealed to parents particularly mothers as well as religious and traditional leaders, to unite in finding lasting solutions to drug abuse in order to rescue and secure the future of the younger generation.