Dipo Akomolafe, a former chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Olusegun Agagu University of Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa chapter, has hailed the Senate for approving the death penalty for drug offenders and traffickers in the country.

The Senate had, on May 9, approved the death penalty for dealers and importers of hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, as against the hitherto capital punishment for the offence.

Mr Akomolafe said on Wednesday in Okitipupa, Ondo, that the rate at which drugs were being abused by youths and others in the country was alarming, adding that it called for serious concern.

The don, who said the death penalty was long overdue, noted that most of the youth who were supposed to contribute their quota to the growth and development of Nigeria had suffered mental illnesses and death owing to drug abuse.

He added that while the culprits and drug dealers got lots of money from their drug deals, many youths and able-bodied people who could have joined in proffering solutions to the country’s problems were dying young due to drug intake.

According to him, the Senate has not erred in any way by imposing the death penalty on drug offenders because the number of drug-related offences was increasing every day.

“As the number is increasing, many youths with the potential to excel and contribute meaningfully to the growth of the country are being affected by mental illnesses and death,” Mr Akomolafe. “Some reasonable number of our youths are now living with signs and symptoms of mental disorder because of drugs.”

He added, “Taking drugs is so enticing to youths nowadays to the extent that even those in primary schools are being exposed to it. The majority of our able-bodied men and women are also embracing the use of drugs for different reasons, and the consequential effects of madness are being displayed in our society.

“While drug traffickers, who are the major culprits, are smiling to the banks, the addicts are constituting a nuisance to society. So the best thing is to eliminate the traffickers and anybody seen with the prohibited drugs.” 

(NAN)