The Nigerian Army has advised soldiers against the intake of illicit drugs in order to ensure effective combat readiness among them.
Maj.-Gen. Ikechukwu Okeke, Corps Commander, Nigerian Army Medical, gave the advice during the 2018 annual health week by the 81 Division medical service held at the Dodan Barracks, Lagos.
“The army has taken several measures to address substance abuse and psychiatric problems generally among its men and officers. For a soldier that is engaged in substance abuse, the first step is to treat him because he is sick and needed to be treated.’’
Okeke said that the free health care exercise was carried out because of the necessity of good health to humanity.
“We have mental health facilities in 44 and 68 Reference Hospitals with qualified psychiatrists and clinical psychologists there addressing the issue.
“In the North East, we have imbedded among the troops, clinical psychologists who talk to them as a preventive measure before going to the battle field,” he said.
According to Okeke, there is an intervention programme after the battle field that looked into all the soldiers coming from the North East to identify those with mental and behavioural disorders.
“If any form of sanction is applied, it is all part of the package to assist the soldier to get out of the disorder.
“There are so many reasons that lead to substance abuse, so the advice is that it is better not to start at all no matter the pressure,” he said.
The Acting Commander, 81 Division Medical Service, Col. Andrew Aloku, said that the health week was organised to ensure physical fitness among those living in the barrack.
“In the year 2014, a report by Global Journal of Human-Social Science reported 12.3 per cent depressive symptoms and 13.2 per cent paranoid behaviours among a selected population in a Nigerian Army barrack.
“This situation appears to be on the increase which informed the selection of this Year’s Week Theme-`Substance abuse amongst the youth, a trend to address’”.
“This is a week-long critical assessment of the issue of substance abuse among youths in our barrack community,” he said.
Aloku thanked the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 81 Division, Maj.-Gen. Musa Yusuf, for his commitment to the wellbeing of his troops and their families.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that no fewer than 200 people were offered free medical outreach to commemorate the week.
