Before now, Nigerians had only read or watched news about the deadly drug cartels in the central American country of Mexico; a country where drug gangs are known to have committed mass murder and rendered whole neighbourhoods desolate. But now, the same Mexican cartels are being fingered in a new drug epidemic that has enveloped Africa’s most populous country. Precisely, in the country’s Southeast region where the scourge of Methamphetamine or simply Crystal Meth, known locally as Mkpuru mmiri; a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system, is ruining lives, destroying homes and has put the entire region on edge.
Meth, as it’s often called, looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-whiterocks. It is chemically similar to amphetamine, a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyper activity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder.
The substance increases the amount of the natural chemical dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is involved in body movement, motivation, and reinforcement of rewarding behaviors. The drug’s ability to rapidly release high levels of dopamine in reward areas of the brain strongly reinforces drug-taking behavior, making the user want to repeat the experience, hence the ease with which people are addicted to it.
Consuming of even small amounts of the substance can result in many health effects such increased wakefulness and physical activity, changes in libido, decreased appetite, faster breathing, rapid and/or irregular heartbeat, increased blood pressure and body temperature, among others in the short term.
Long term effects on the other hand, include extreme weight loss, severe dental problems known as “meth mouth,” intense itching, leading to skin sores from scratching, anxiety, changes in brain structure and function, confusion, memory loss, sleeping problems, violent behavior, paranoia—extreme and unreasonable distrust of others and hallucinations.
Nigeria has historically had drug problems. And it’s a challenge that has kept getting worse with a youth bulge battling unemployment and harsh economic realities. One in every seven people, chairman of the country’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Buba Marwa said, is addicted to drugs. More so in Kano, Northwest where according to him, it’s one in every six persons.
“The drug scourge is now an epidemic in Nigeria. The prevalence is 15 percent, three times the global average,” Marwa said when he visited Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in March. “One in seven Nigerians take drugs. We have found out that there is a nexus between drug use and crime.
Methamphetamine
“In Kano State, drug abuse prevalence is 16 per cent; that is, in every six persons, one is a drug addict and they are between the ages of 15 years and 64 years.”
Marwa’s point that there is a nexus between drug addiction and crime is a given; a reality many residents of the Southeast are waking up to in the wake of the enveloping addiction to meth.
The young men who take the substance are increasingly taking to crime. In the night they would be going about stealing and constituting nuisance in the society,” said Chidi Nwafor a business owner in Amawbia, Anambra State.
If you go to my place in Afikpo there are a number of young men who are addicted to the drug. At night, they would be going to people’s homes to steal money, goats, generators and so on. The consumption rate is quite alarming especially among young people, even in Amawbia here.”
In Anambra, like the rest of South Eastern states, the challenge is becoming endemic. Perhaps even more so in Imo.
Last week, a young man from Mgbidi, Oru West Local Government of Imo State, not more than 25, was said to have killed his mother and sister after overdosing on meth, an atrocity that drew the ire of community members who quickly rallied and stoned him to death.
It’s not an isolated incident. Since the consumption of meth took root in the region in the last three years or so, it’s been tales of crime, ruined livelihoods and death. Young men looking haggard from obvious effect of meth are a routine sight.
“It’s a big problem,” said Kenneth Nnaji, a community leader in Amechi, Enugu State. “A lot of people are taking Mkpuru Mmiri, but it’s those it is already having effects on their bodies that you easily tell. We are compiling the names of people selling the drugs, and those taking it. When we are done, we will begin to take serious action.”
Various communities have taken up the challenge of fighting the menace. In various communities in Anambra, Imo and elsewhere, identified addicts are given corporal punishment; tied to stakes and whipped severely. Feedbacks suggest it’s achieving results. Some have turned the corner. But drug problem is often hardly tractable. It is still a huge challenge and stakeholders are not oblivious of the enormity of the problem.
“Like every effort, you will just keep doing your best, but the results may not come immediately,” said Chief Alex Ogbonnia, spokesperson for Ohanaeze Ndigbo. “When it is something that affect the youth, you may not see the results immediately. But the important thing is that an awareness has been created in all the communities in Igboland with respect to the dangers in taking Mkpuru Mmiri. That awareness has made a lot of people to stop taking the drug.”
Ohanaeze, the apex Igbo socio cultural group, said it is coordinating effort in this regard, through various town unions. But tackling a challenge of such magnitude requires a lot more, especially from state authorities, which appear to be lacking at the moment.