Lai Gobir who made the call while fielding questions from Journalists in Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital, also stressed the need for the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Custom, Immigration, and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria to collectively work together towards addressing the menace.

The pharmacist, who decried the abuse of drugs in the society, emphasized the need for all the agencies saddled with the responsibility to control the use of drugs to employ the service of professionals.

Gobir asked the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control to immediately de-register drugs that had been misused in the society, such as Tramadol, Codeine syrup and other drugs that have affected people psychologically.

According to him, people are now highly addicted to such drugs, stressing the need to withdraw them from circulation to safeguard the health of the people and avoid societal disorder as a result of abuse of prescribed medications.

Gobir charged the National Orientation Agency and all the thirty six states Ministry of Information to create awareness on the abuse of drugs by counseling the youths on the dangers of the menace.

He also stressed the need to have rehabilitation centres across the country to counsel and rehabilitate the victims of drug abuse and people that are generally dependent on drugs.

Gobir said government should not rely only on religious leaders to counsel the youths but should also address socio-economic problems that influenced people to engage in abuse of drugs.