Stand For Humanity, Police Launch Anti-Drug Abuse Campaign in Imo State

By Everest Ezihe, Owerri

Worried by the rising incidence of drug abuse, particularly among youths and teenagers in Imo State, Stand For Humanity Foundation, in partnership with the Imo State Police Command, has embarked on a sensitisation campaign across major streets in Owerri, the state capital.

The campaign, which took place last weekend, saw participants defy the early morning rain as they marched from Dan Anyiam Stadium along Wetheral Road, Owerri, chanting solidarity songs, distributing handbills and sensitising residents on the dangers associated with drug abuse.

The campaigners moved through major parts of the state capital with dancing, acrobatic displays and other activities aimed at attracting public attention to the growing menace.

Speaking to journalists at the Government House Roundabout in Owerri, the founder and lead campaigner of Stand For Humanity Foundation, Chidiebube Okeoma, said the organisation was collaborating with the Police through the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices, domiciled in the office of the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, to combat drug abuse and other social vices in the state.

Okeoma, a child rights advocate, explained that the awareness campaign was an offshoot of the July 4, 2026, campaign against child abuse organised by the foundation.

According to him, investigations conducted by the organisation revealed that drug abuse was a major enabler of child abuse.

He stressed that the campaign against child abuse could not be effectively sustained without simultaneously addressing the menace of drug abuse.

“If the war against child abuse launched by our organisation in Imo State must be sustained, drug abuse must be eradicated in the state,” Okeoma said.

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Imo State Command, ASP Henry Okoye, said the exercise was part of the Command’s non-kinetic strategy for combating crime and other anti-social vices.

Okoye, who represented the Commissioner of Police, Audu Bosso, at the event, said the awareness march was also part of the Command’s community policing strategy aimed at making Imo State safer and more secure.

He commended Stand For Humanity Foundation for partnering with the Police to promote peace and combat crime in the state.

Also speaking, the officer in charge of Anti-Narcotics at the Command, CSP Ifeanyi Ikokwu, disclosed that drug abuse was on the increase in the state.

Ikokwu said the police had continued to work with relevant stakeholders to tackle the menace, noting that his unit had busted several drug syndicate locations, arrested offenders, rehabilitated some victims and arraigned others in Court.

He called for a broader partnership involving Stand For Humanity Foundation, other civil society organisations and government agencies to intensify the fight against drug abuse.

The Divisional Police Officer in charge of Shell Camp Police Station, Owerri, Juliana Obidinanwa, decried the increasing involvement of teenagers in drug abuse.

She urged parents to be more vigilant, warning that many secondary school students were already deeply involved in the abuse of drugs.

Similarly, popular Nollywood comic actor, Osinachi Dike, popularly known as Apama, urged the foundation and the police to extend the campaign to rural communities and hinterlands.

He stressed the need to sustain the campaign beyond the awareness march in order to achieve lasting results.

A Professor of Law at Imo State University, Otitodiri Onyema, described the partnership between Stand For Humanity Foundation and the police as a positive step towards rescuing young people from drug abuse.

The legal scholar urged other civil society organisations to emulate the foundation’s humanitarian and social advocacy initiatives, particularly its efforts to engage government institutions and other stakeholders in the fight against crime and social abuses.

A human rights activist and broadcast journalist, Chinonso Uba, popularly known as Nonso Nkwa, also expressed concern over the increasing abuse of drugs among secondary school students.

Uba warned that unless concerted efforts were made to prevent teenagers from abusing drugs, the consequences could be devastating to individuals, families and the society at large.

The Special Adviser to Governor Hope Uzodimma on Youth Affairs, Hon. Eric Uwakwe, said the state government supported programmes aimed at taking youths away from crime and other social vices.

Uwakwe assured that his office would continue to collaborate with Stand For Humanity Foundation, the Police and other stakeholders in efforts to promote peace, security and responsible youth development in Imo State.

The campaigners later returned to Dan Anyiam Stadium, where the exercise terminated with a seminar, entertainment and further sensitisation activities.