Drug abuse: Preventable madness hits Njaba boys.
3 min read
If the highly dependable strong indications that emerged last week in Umuaka are anything to go by, Umuaka Municipal Council otherwise known as Akah Ebe Iri is already engaged in a real battle of life and death. The fight which is mostly focused on saving the lives of several male and female Akalites who are hooked on the dynamics of drug abuse and misuse, is now a fight every Akalite is expected to take part in.
A survey recently conducted by the local affairs correspondent of Umuaka Times concerning drug abuse in the locality, indicates that 13 out of every 15 youths in Umuaka and the entire Njaba LGA and beyond are almost unavoidably hooked on drugs. Sadly enough, those who engage in the illicit act are between the ages of 15 and 29. In Njaba LGA especially Umuaka and other nearby communities, it is always usual to see young boys on their motorcycles in some gatherings with their drugs such as Colorado, cloud, Arizona, SK, Ice and many more mentally devastating drugs smoking them openly. It is now a well-known fact that many young individuals in Njaba who engage in drug abuse especially marijuana are now considered as “good boys”. The reason for this consideration is because marijuana is the least intoxicant among other drugs within their reach and locality.
The boys and girls who engage in the substance abuse mentioned above, freely do so openly to the embarrassment of their older ones who helplessly watch them engage in the drug abuse fantasy. A report Umuaka Times was unable to confirm last week before press time had it that some secondary school students also take part in the drug abuse madness.
The unending drug life concerning a large number of “motorcycle boys” in Njaba has taken a dangerous dimension as many have become victims of drug abuse and ended up as mentally challenged patients. A good number of young boys in Umuaka are now domiciled at several rehab and spiritual healing centres across the nation where they are receiving treatment on their mentally challenged status. A young Akalite who spoke to Umuaka Times last week on the development confirmed to the newspaper that in no distant time, there will be hardly a family in Umuaka that will not have a mad boy or girl.
From Umuaka Times investigations, many young boys in Njaba LGA have gone crazy as a result of their drug intake and abuse. Some of them are below 20 years while others are above 20 including females. Some communities are not ignoring the menance. Several drug and alcohol joints in Umuaka and the entire Njaba LGA as well as Isu LGA have so far been busted by the police and several arrests made. Many communities and villages in some local councils in Orlu especially in Isu and Njaba have instituted some measures to curb the activities of drug users in Umuaka etc. In those communities, it is a serious offence by any boy or girl to smoke in those communities. If anyone does, he or she will be penalized decisively.
For now, several families are afraid and confused over the drug abuse development in Umuaka because their children are deeply hooked. There is a need for such families to watch their teenage children closely and know when to raise the alarm. For now, as the drug abuse lifestyle of young boys and girls in Njaba LGA etc continues to be on the rise, many more boys and girls are getting mad and even madder than the real mad men and women who have been “practicing” madness for some decades.
