Emir Sanusi speaks on abducted Kano children

The Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, Saturday broke his silence on the Kano children, who were abducted and taken to Anambra State.

The emir who spoke at a public awareness campaign organized by League for Societal Protection Against Drug Abuse (LESPADA) in Kano, said when the news broke, he contacted his Onitsha counterpart, the Obi of Onitsha and that they were following the case and making progress.

“But before we blame any tribe for abducting our children, we must ask ourselves whether these abductors are going into our houses to kidnap our children. If you think it is not our negligence, go to Onitsha and attempt to kidnap their children and see if they are that careless. We must change our ways of thinking and stop blaming others for the social problems of our society.

“I am not saying the kidnappers are not guilty of their offences, before I would be misunderstood and misquoted, but what I am saying is that parents must be alive to their responsibility of children upbringing,” he said.

He also stressed the importance of girl-child education and women involvement in politics, saying most of the problems bedevilling the society had to do with women and ‘‘without them in positions of authority, there would be no proper solutions to such problems’’.

On drug abuse, the emir said for the country to be rid of the menace, the society must do its part as most of the young people who engage in drug abuse were victims of circumstance that deserved the sympathy of the society rather than being treated with contempt as criminals.

He advised law enforcement agencies to pay more attention to channels of supply of contraband goods, especially illicit drugs, rather than the demand of the commodity.

Also speaking, the Comptroller of Customs in charge of Federal Operations Zone A, Lagos, Alhaji Aliyu Muhammad, said the issue of drug trafficking and abuse had assumed an unprecedented level that the law enforcement agencies alone could not handle it.

“We recently intercepted 75 containers at Tin Can port, 30 at Apapa and 40 in Port Harcourt, each is worth over N1.8 billion, and we have arrested some of the drug importers and their accomplices, but this is not something we can do alone without the support of the public,” he said.