This is the single
largest public destruction of exhibits by burning, coming after the one by Edo
State which gross weight was 136 tons.
The drugs, mainly
Cannabis sativa, were some of the seizures made by NDLEA Ondo State Command
within a four year period. In 2014, the Agency destroyed well over 80 tons of
similar drugs in Ondo State.
The Chairman of NDLEA,
Col. Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (Rtd.) described the drug situation in Ondo
State as “frightening and sad.”
He added: “Sadly, apart
from this quantity heaped for destruction, there are still tons of Cannabis
sativa that we are yet to secure court order to destroy. We have also destroyed
1, 418. 635 hectares of cannabis plantations, in Ondo State between 2015 and
2018.”
According to Abdallah,
who was represented by Femi Oloruntoba, Chief of Staff to the Chairman, Ondo
State remains one of the six states in Nigeria where cannabis is cultivated in
large quantities.
“As a result of cannabis
plantations, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find virgin forests, thus
exposing the state to deforestation and soil degradation.”
Abdallah urged the Ondo
State Government to embrace Alternative Development Programme through the
provision of land, expertise, implement, seedlings, chemicals and buying up the
harvests at attractive rates, thus addressing poverty, food insecurity and
unemployment.
The Ondo State
Governor, Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu, SAN commended NDLEA for sustaining the
efforts at de-escalating cannabis production in the state.
Akeredolu noted: “We
appreciate the grave consequences of drugs and the security implications, hence
the inclusion of NDLEA in the State Security Council. We will continue to
support the Agency so that together we cleanse the society of the drug menace.”
Members of the State
Executive Council, Judiciary, Heads of Security Agencies, Traditional Rulers,
Religious Leaders, Corps Members and the Civil Society were among those who
witnessed the public exhibit destruction.
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