Kano govt to rehabilitate 10,000 drug addicts, establish rapid response centre — Taskforce

The Kano State Government has commenced plans to take 10,000 drug users off the streets and rehabilitate them within one year as part of efforts to tackle drug abuse and its links to violent crime.

The Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Agency Taskforce on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Muhuyi Rimin-Gado, disclosed this on Saturday during a media parley with journalists in Kano.

He said the initiative represented a new approach to tackling drug and substance abuse by focusing on detoxification, rehabilitation, skills acquisition and economic empowerment rather than relying solely on arrest and imprisonment.

According to him, the taskforce, with the support of the state government, will establish business clusters where rehabilitated drug users can acquire vocational and entrepreneurial skills and subsequently become economically productive.

“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.

“We are planning to set up clusters to engage them in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship programmes. This is aimed at making them productive in society,” he said.

Mr Rimin-Gado said beneficiaries would be trained in various trades, including tailoring, shoemaking, garment production and other forms of craftsmanship, adding that the programme would be expanded to cover 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 taskforce chairman said the intervention was also aimed at addressing the relationship between drug abuse, unemployment and violent crime, particularly gun-related 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.

He added that the initiative would help decongest correctional facilities while providing drug users with an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

“This is also to decongest the reformatory and correctional centres. We are very serious on this. We are fighting a fierce battle but we are winning.

“That is why I am calling on all and sundry to give their support for the development of our state,” Mr Rimin-Gado said.

The taskforce chairman also disclosed that the state government had commenced plans to establish a Rapid Response Centre for reporting drug-related issues.

According to him, the centre will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to receive information from members of the public on drug abuse and related activities.

Mr Rimin-Gado further disclosed that the government had 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 into society.

He said drug users would be treated according to the severity of their substance abuse, explaining that those involved in multiple-substance use could face prosecution, while others could be placed under the care and supervision of their parents or guardians.

The chairman said the intervention would also create economic opportunities by linking rehabilitated persons with markets in Kano.

He argued that the approach would not only reduce drug dependence and violent crime but also strengthen the state’s economic potential.

“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.

Mr Rimin-Gado described the programme as ambitious but expressed confidence that collaboration among government agencies, security institutions, correctional authorities, private-sector operators and other stakeholders would ensure its success.

“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.