The Kano State Government has set a target of taking 10,000 drug users off the streets and rehabilitating them within one year as part of a new strategy to tackle substance abuse and its links to violent crime.

The Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Joint Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Muhuyi Rimin-Gado, disclosed this on Saturday while outlining the government’s planned intervention for drug users, convicted offenders and vulnerable youths involved in substance abuse.

Rimin-Gado said the initiative would move beyond arrests and imprisonment by combining detoxification, rehabilitation, skills acquisition and economic empowerment to help former drug users reintegrate into society.

“Our goal is to take away 10,000 people from the streets within one year. This is a different approach from only taking them to prison. We are thinking about rehabilitation,” he said.

He explained that the process would begin with detoxification before beneficiaries were enrolled in rehabilitation programmes and equipped with skills that could make them economically productive.

“After what we call detoxification, we will take them to rehabilitation and give them guidance. All this will expose them to the necessary knowledge they need to address drug abuse, including training,” Rimin-Gado said.

According to him, the government plans to train beneficiaries in areas including tailoring, shoemaking, garment production and other crafts, with plans to expand the programme to additional trades and services. “We are going to employ a mechanism where we will give training, including different kinds of craftsmanship that they would engage in,” he said.

The task force chairman said the intervention was designed to address the connection between drug abuse, unemployment and violent crime, particularly gun violence involving youths. “If you look at our operations, when going after these youths, it is not because we hate them or do not want them. It is because we want them rehabilitated,” he said.

Rimin-Gado said the government had also begun discussions with correctional authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that people released from correctional facilities could undergo rehabilitation and acquire skills that would support their reintegration.

He said some drug users would be treated differently depending on the severity of their substance abuse, adding that those found with multiple substances could face prosecution, while others could be placed under the care of their parents or guardians.

The chairman said the planned intervention would also create economic opportunities by linking rehabilitated persons with markets in Kano, arguing that the approach could simultaneously reduce drug dependence and strengthen the state’s economy.

“We do not only eradicate the issue of drug dependence, drug abuse or gun violence; at the same time, we are building our economic potential,” he said.

Rimin-Gado said the programme was ambitious but expressed confidence that collaboration among government agencies, security institutions, correctional authorities, private-sector players and other stakeholders would make it successful.

“It’s a very ambitious project, but at least the government is very determined, and with the national agencies on board, we are going to succeed,” he said.