Lagos state police spokesperson, Benjamin Hundeyin has criticized entertainers who eulogize drug and substance abuse.
Hundeyin’s statement is coming at the wake of the controversial demise of 27-year-old musician, Mohbad whose real name is Ilerioluwa Aloba.
Benjamin Hundeyin made this known at the 2023 Press Week Lecture/Symposium, organized by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), in partnership with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Lagos Chapter on Thursday, September 28.
ALSO READ: Naira Marley claims late musician, Mohbad apologized to him prior to his demise
ALSO READ: Mohbad: Lagos Police arrest Sam Larry
āThe music industry is not helping us in any way. They glamorize drugs. Not all that glitters is gold.ā he said while urging the elderly Nigerians to join in the fight against drug abuse.
He alleged that a lot of superstars are involved in drug abuse. According to him, when musicians have health challenges, most times they would not want to go to the hospital but rather invite a nurse to treat them at home because they are using drugs.
āGoing to the hospital will expose that and they donāt want people to know.ā he said
According to him, behind most crimes in society, there is substance abuse or drug addiction among youths. He said the command regularly arrests criminals in the state and in 90 per cent of the cases, the criminals blame their actions on drugs.
āDrugs and their attendant problems are things that manifest in the society. We all know that there is a direct connection between drugs and crimes. For us in the Lagos State Police Command, we have come to realise that the more there is drug use in the society, the higher the crime rate is. If drugs actually reduce in the society, crimes too will reduce. Ordinarily, people would not go and commit crimes until they use drugs,ā he said
He said that beyond crimes, drug abuse messes up the health and future of Nigerian youths.
On the way forward, the PPRO said that the media and other stakeholders have a strong role to play in portraying the ills and dangers of drugs in society. He lamented that elders who should be custodians of morals have been arrested on several occasions for selling illicit drugs.
āIt is painful when elderly parents come to beg for their children arrested for drugs. Encouraging drug use will not help anyone. Elderly ones should be our mouthpiece. It is bad that elderly people are making this problem worse. We need to expose this. Our borders are quite porous, people bring in things, illicit drugs inclusive. The more we make noise about it, the better” he said
Discover more from News Round The Clock
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.