November 28, 2021
By Nnamdi Ojiego
An epidemic has hit Igboland. No one is safe. Gory tales litter the space.
On October 19, 2021, a boy allegedly killed his father in Adazi Ani in Anambra State and took the father’s N50, 000 just to buy Mkpuru mmiri. He was apprehended by youths of the community, beaten to stupor and burnt alive.
Another died in neighboring community as a result of debilitating effects of Mkpuru mmiri. In Umudioka, Anambra, two siblings, after taking Guzoro, chased their mother with machetes and prevented the woman from coming to the family house for three days until the village vigilante officials intervened.
There are numerous trending videos on social media platforms from different communities in Igbo land of young men, and in some cases, women and under-aged, being tied to beams and trees at public squares, beaten mercilessly for dealing in and taking Mkpuru mmiri. Information emanating from the zone shows that many Igbo youths are going insane, even as some have completely gone mad after drug use. And these are the future of the society.
According to population projections by the United Nations for 2020, about 43 per cent of the Nigerian population comprised children 0-14 years, 19 per cent aged 15-24 years and about 62 per cent are below age 25 years. By contrast, less than five per cent is aged 60 years and above. This makes Nigeria a youthful population with a median age of about 18 years, which is lower than African and world estimates of 20 and 29 respectively.
Escalation
With the above statistics, it is believed that the energy that will power Nigeria into a prosperous future will come from her teeming, vibrant youths. However, with a worrisome escalation in the rate of drugs abuse in the country, this generation of youths may not live to achieve their God-given potentials.
Faced with this existential threat, many stakeholders and prominent individuals of Igbo extraction, including politicians, celebrities, and community leaders, have expressed concerns over the effects of deadly substances and lending their voices for a concerted effort to stem the tide that is capable of wiping a generation of Igbo from the surface of the earth. They are aware that if urgent action is not taken, the Igbo race could be annihilated and the land becomes desolate.
Methamphetamine
What is Mkpuru mmiri that has thrown the South-East into chaos? It is a hard drug called methamphetamine or meth for short. It is called Mkpuru mmiri or ice in local parlance because it looks like ice block. It is also called Guzoro because of euphoria effect one gets after taking it.
According to Wikipedia, methamphetamine is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity.
The US National Institute on Drug Abuse described methamphetamine as a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. It takes the form of a white, odourless, bitter-tasting crystalline powder that easily dissolves in water or alcohol.
Meth was developed early in the 20th century from its parent drug, amphetamine, and was used originally in nasal decongestants and bronchial inhalers. Like amphetamine, methamphetamine causes increased activity and talkativeness, decreased appetite, and a pleasurable sense of well-being or euphoria.
However, methamphetamine differs from amphetamine in that, at comparable doses, much greater amounts of the drug get into the brain, making it a more potent stimulant. It also has longer-lasting and more harmful effects on the central nervous system. These characteristics make it a drug with a high potential for widespread misuse.
In time, it became clear that methamphetamine was dangerously addictive. In the 1970s, the drug was added to the Schedule II list of controlled substances and became illegal except when it is prescribed by a physician for a very limited number of medical conditions.
The activities of the drugs addicts and dealers have become so damaging that town unions and youths associations are taking drastic measures to stamp out the menace from their communities. The situation is made worse and dangerous because there is no quick cure or drug for the addiction. The only treatment is behavioral therapy which is not readily available in Nigeria.
Extreme Measures
Though some people have condemned the manner of punishment meted out to the addicts and peddlers, describing it as barbaric, inhuman and unacceptable, others were of the view that no punishment or measure is too much or harsh for drug abusers considering the havoc the new way of life of some youths is already wreaking in the society.
Miracle Chioma, a concerned Nigerian, in her reaction, described the action as barbaric, stressing that beating the abusers would not stop them from taking the substance.
“These are adults who are already addicted to a particular substance and drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by compulsive or uncontrollable drug seeking and use despite its harmful consequences”, Chioma stated.
“Addiction is a strong disease and these people can’t stop taking Mkpuru mmiri by this act of beating them.
“Most drug addicts need long-term and repeated care from a behavioral counsellor or a therapist to stop using the drug completely and recover their lives.”
Cane Deliverance
But Ugezu J. Ugezu, a celebrated movie actor and director, in a widely circulated video, supported what he termed ‘Cane Deliverance’ (flogging) and, specifically, urged all communities to adopt it to save Igbo youths.
According to him, town unions should not wait on government but take the bull by the horns in tackling the problem.
He said: “I want to lend my voice to a raging issue in our land and I am urging presidents-general of town unions, specifically, to wake up from their slumbers and take the bull by the horns.
“What I’m talking about is what is called Mkpuru mmiri that our youths are taking and they are neck-deep into it.
“We don’t know how it started or who started it. It could be from those who want to destroy our land and our youths have ignorantly embraced it, little children, especially those who have nothing doing. “Even those that do menial jobs are now into it. You can see it’s not a good thing. So I believe that it is through flogging that the madness can be driven out of them.
“I’m glad some communities have started already and I am saying that if your community’s constitution does not have provisions for flogging errant youths, let the constitution be amended to make provision for flogging.
“If we leave these children on their own, all of them will be useless.
“The Igbo have structures like age grade, Umunna, etc., let’s use these already existing structures to fight and correct these anomalies.
“If we don’t take these drastic measures now, in the next three to five years, we will have a bigger disaster in our hands.
“We are talking of the future of our land, so if we allow them to waste their lives, we will be the ultimate losers. We have to start now and it’s the town unions that will lead this fight.
“We can’t wait for government on this. We must fight this fight ourselves. We must use the cane to whip out the evil spirit in our youths.
“So any child that refuses to listen to good counsel, his body will listen to flogging.”
Failure
Speaking in the same vein, a youth leader and Convener of Movement for Grassroots Governance, Comrade Ebelechukwu Ngini, blamed government at all levels for the calamity that has befallen Igbo youths, even as he supported the various measures adopted by communities to fight the scourge including flogging.
Ngini said: “Shaming the drug abusers is getting positive results so far. This may not be the best international practice but it is pragmatic.
“We don’t have the luxury of basic mental health facilities, what do you expect us to do? Speak beautiful grammar and fantasize on lofty psychiatric know how?
READ ALSO: Mkpuru Mmiri: Mexicans set up labs in Nigeria to produce meth in 2016 — Reps
“No, we must do something to save a generation. So far, flogging has been discouraging many would-have-been users whilst a lot more dropped the habit automatically after such treatment.
“What other results do you want to see? The flogging more than anything brought the menace of this drug to the front burner of discussion now. We can get better but for now, the flogging continues. Don’t want to get flogged publicly? Avoid Mkpårå mmiri.
“I am beyond worried. I am much afraid that our greatest asset as a people is being destroyed before our very eyes. The future of every race is their youth and here we are talking about young, even teenage boys and girls getting illicit drugs easily and abusing them.
‘I cringe to imagine what will become of us if this plague is not nipped in the bud. The worrisome question is how come meth litters our streets such that even 11-year-olds easily access them like it is Vitamin C? What makes the supply chain this thick and seamless? A question I believe the NDLEA should answer.
State of Emergency
“The cause is primarily the failure of government keeping to their side of the social contract with the people.
“Parents should stop making excuses for errant children and treat children tilting towards bad gangs dispassionately for a stitch in time saves nine.
“That said, I believe we, rather than passing the buck now, ought to declare a state of emergency on the menace.
“I unequivocally commend Anambra youths who have taken it upon ourselves to tackle this hydra-headed monster head-on.
“We must give our best to end the abuse of Mkpårå mmiri before it ends us.
“Many of users turn out to be the worst kind of criminals; gory stories of their escapades are legion. One beheaded his father the other day in Adazi. Many robberies and prostitution there are in a bid to support the illicit drug habit”.
Francisca Ike-Nebeolisa, another concerned Igbo, supported Ngini’s stance, saying: “Hunting them and treating them as criminals have helped so many of them. That is the reason most communities are adopting this means.
“Whatever means any community adopts to curtail the sale of this killer drug and reduce the rate people take it should be encouraged because, once people are unable to access the substance, it will reduce its spread.
Testimony
Giving credence to the assertions of those in support public shaming, one of the victims, in a testimonial video, stated that the flogging and beating he received saved him from destroying himself and made him a better person.
Ugochukwu, a native of Osumenyi in Anambra, revealed that he was one of those who received severe beatings for indulging in Mkpuru mmiri.
“My town’s youth association apprehended me, tied me up and gave me almost 100 strokes of the cane. That was how the drugs left him”, he explained.
In the video, he professed his newfound life, stressing that he is now humble and working as an apprentice in a barber’s shop.
The victim thanked the youths for dispensing those life-saving strokes and encouraged them to fish out other young boys in need of the therapy that saved him.
Asian Treatment
An anonymous commentator, who claimed that the situation was worse in Imo, his home state, said dealers should receive stiffer punishment.
“Many guys in Imo are mad right now due to Mkpuru mmiri. Government and communities must go after the dealers”, he said.
“Imo, like Anambra, is also flogging them. A lot of our brothers who are drug peddlers and who usually travel to other countries to destroy their youths are now home destroying Igbo youths.
“If anyone should be flogged, it should be the dealers. I am even advocating death penalty for the dealers and sellers in our land just like it is done in some countries in Asia. “I will never feel sorry for anyone given life or 50 years in prison or the death penalty for carrying drugs in Asia and other nations. They did not want their youths destroyed. Now I know why.”
.... To be continued below..
Post a Comment