An Enugu – based human rights group, African Law Foundation (AFRILAW), has called for the reformation of Nigeria’s Drug Law and Policy Agenda in order to decriminalise drug offences and end related human rights abuse of offenders. Barrister Chinwike Okereke, the founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AFRILAW, as well as the National Focal Point/Coordinator of West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) Nigeria, who made the call during the Nigeria Drug Policy Media Forum in Enugu yesterday, said the nation’s “drug control system is broken and in need of reform”. He said that people who use drugs should no longer be criminalized while those involved in the drug trade should not face harsh or inappropriate punishments.
The rights activist said Nigeria has the most stringent law in Africa against use of drugs under the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act ranging from 15 to 25 years jail term for convicted offenders. He, however, insisted that drug use disorder is more of a health challenge than criminal and lamented that the nation’s Correctional Centres (prisons) end up worsening the condition of drug offenders than rehabilitating them. Okereke called for development, reformation and/ or harmonisation of drug laws on the basis of existing and merging trends, as well as treating drug use as a public health issue with socio economic causes and consequences rather than a criminal justice matter.
“The death penalty should never be imposed for drug offences; drug policy should focus on health, well-being and harm reduction; and drug policy budgets need rebalancing to ensure health and harm reduction-based responses are adequately financed,” he said. Okereke stressed that the Nigeria Drug Policy Media Forum was part of the ‘2021 Support, Don’t Punish’ Campaign Global Day of Action in Nigeria promoted globally by International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) UK and its members and partners.
In a presentation on drugs and drug prevention, treatment and cure, Dr. Onu Justus Uchenna of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu cautioned against the use of terms like ‘drug addiction’ to refer to drug users, which he said could cause stigmatization, but noted that they should rather be referred to as drug dependent persons. Dr. Onu said drug dependent people are treatable provided the affected person was willing and ready to take action.