Shockwaves are reverberating across Yorùbáland and the global Yorùbá diaspora following the sudden death of the Baba Ọba (King’s Father) of the famed Oyotunji African Village in South Carolina, USA. The late Baba Ọba, Lukman Arohunfale, a revered socialite and traditionalist, passed away under circumstances already sparking fierce controversy. His death comes just days after he publicly accused the newly installed Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty Oba Akeem Adéyẹmọ Owoade, of allegedly ordering his courtiers to beat him mercilessly during a recent courtesy visit to the Oyo palace in Nigeria. In a widely circulated voice recording, the deceased recounted how what was meant to be a simple homage turned violent. Although the Baba Ọba had reportedly battled ill health in the past year, growing insinuations suggest that the alleged physical assault may have aggravated his condition, ultimately leading to his untimely death. The palace in Oyo recently denied that s...
The state commander of the agency, Aliyu Adole, who spoke on Monday, said the trend was “worsening every day.” He said, “They (children) use syringe and needles to inject illicit substance to their veins.
“The substances embolden them to carry out all sorts of vices, unprotected sex inclusive,” he said, adding that the command had arrested many children while in the act.
“We took some of the children to Gombe State Agency for the Control of AIDS and some of them tested positive to the virus.”
Mr. Adole said some of the children have “scary and unpleasant looks” due to the adverse reactions of the drugs.
“We have tried to counsel them; we have tried to let them know the repercussions of taking illicit substance, but they do not to listen to us,” he said.
The commander appealed to parents to monitor the behaviour of their children, stressing that they (parents) have special role to play in assisting them to stay off drugs.
The Child Protection Network, an NGO in Gombe, had identified increase in the consumption of illicit drugs among children as one of the major challenge the network was tackling.
The CPN Adviser, Yaya Hammari, recently called on parents to always observe the behavioural pattern of their children and report any sudden and unexplained change.
NAN
Comments
Post a Comment