By Salim Yunusa
Politician and former Kano State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Muazu Magaji, has lambasted the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party in the state, for the alarming drug abuse in the state reported by the Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) boss, retired General Buba Marwa, who said that over two million people were abusing drugs in the state.
The NDLEA Chairman, Marwa, yesterday said, “In Kano State, drug abuse prevalence is 16 per cent; that is, in every six persons, one is a drug addict and they are between the ages of 15 years and 64 years.
“Kano State has close to two million drug users abusing tramadol, codeine and other cough syrups, rather than cannabis.”
Muazu Magaji, who was sacked over his controversial comments on Abba Kyari’s death, was reappointed as chairman, Project Committee on Industrialisation and pipelines.
He was also under fire few weeks ago following comments he made, describing the unfolding developments in Afghanistan as a “win-win” situation.
Writing on his Facebook page with a screenshot of the NDLEA chairman’s report, Muazu said, “This is what you get when you have a ruling party chairman promoting drug-induced thuggery, and a local government commissioner who is proudly breeding addicts at state and all our local government levels and using them as his vanguard…It will not end well with anyone destroying other people’s children for his selfish purposes.”
The Kano APC chairman, Abdullahi Abbas, allegedly told party loyalists on 12th February this year, in his address during the swearing-in of the local government chairmen in the state, to “attack and punish” anyone who attempts to rig elections in the state.
“I order you to punish anybody seen before ballots boxes trying to rig the election. Nothing will happen,” Abbas was quoted to have said in what some observers regard as an inciting public statement from a political leader.