Akwa Ibom: NDLEA laments high rate of drug abuse as Pyrates Confraternity warns members

 

Mrs Obot Bassey, the Commander of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Akwa Ibom, has decried the high rate of drúg abuse in the state.

Bassey gave the remarks during the 2025 Feast of Barracuda in Eket on Monday, with the theme: ‘High cost of getting high: Unmasking the real price of drúg abúse’.

The National Association of Seadogs (NAS), also known as Pyrates Confraternity, Atlantic Shores Deck, Eket chapter, sponsored the event.

Bassey, represented by Mr Ojukwu Obidi, the Area Commander, Eket command, said that the level of drúg àbuse in the state was alarming.

“In Akwa Ibom alone, the rate of drúg àbuse is very high. No where I have been to, that I have seen the number of mentally challenged people that I can compare to what I have seen in Akwa Ibom.

“Drúg àbuse is alarming in Akwa Ibom because some indigenes have normalised the usage. They see it as nothing, they see it as a way of promoting the economy and sustaining themselves,” Bassey said.

She lamented that young adults took substance popularly known as ‘combine’, adding that combine was made up of Marijúana and alcohol which could lead to mental health challenges.

“If you go to social gatherings in Akwa Ibom, hardly you will not see young adults taking ‘combine’ and you know that their genetics are different, which leads many of them suffer from mental breakdown,” she said.

The State Commander said that NDLEA had seized over 804 kg of hard drúgs in 2025 alone and convicted 38 people who are currently serving their sentences.

“This year alone, we have arrested 312 suspects in Akwa Ibom. If you look at the people we have arrested already, the cost to their families and communities is very high,” she said.

According to her, violent crímes are increasing like kídnapping, ràpe, armed robbery due to drúg àbuse.

Bassey appealed to the association to assist the agency in logistics in order to carry out their mandate effectively.

She said that part of the agency’s weekly programmes was embarking on sensitisation to disabuse the minds of people on drúg àbuse in the state.

Bassey also expressed dissatisfaction that the country is losing its young ones to drúgs.

She thanked the association and NDLEA for the drug advocacy, to reduce the national crisis being faced in the country due to drúg àbuse.

In his welcome speech, Idongesit Ifon, the President of NAS, Pyrates Confraternity Atlantic Shores Deck, Eket said any member caught peddling or using drúg would be expelled.

“My members do not get involve in drúgs. Anyone that is caught would be expelled from the association,” Ifon said.

The President said this year’s theme was not only timely but urgent.

Ifon said the country and communities were witnessing the corrosive effects of drúg àbuse from shattered lives and broken families to rising críme, poor mental health and weakened institutions.

“It is a growing menace that demands collective awareness and deliberate, strategic intervention,” he said.

He said that the fish, Barracuda, was a feared predator, swift, cunning and destructive, adding that it lurks beneath the surface, striking at will and making the waters unsafe.

“But when the barracuda is caught, when it is subdued, it is a moment of triumph and celebration because peace returns to the waters,” Ifon said.

Ifon while speaking on the feast of barracuda said that it had come to symbolise all the ills, injustices and forces of oppression that threaten the attainment of a just and egalitarian society.

He urged the people to engage fully to listen, learn, ask questions and challenge because the battle against drúg abúse is one that requires all hands to be on deck.

“Let the feast mark a turning point in our shared fight to protect the vulnerable, uplift our youth and restore dignity to our society,” he said.