Drug abuse: PAP boss mulls free health checks for ex-agitators
By Amgbare Ekaunkumo, Yenagoa, Trek Africa Newspaper
Col. Milland Dikio
The Interim Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixon Dikio (rtd) has said the scheme is planning to begin free medical evaluation of ex-agiators to determine the impact of drug abuse on their lives.
Dikio, who spoke at the Bayelsa State Stakeholders Mega Sensitisation Campaign on Drug Abuse Prevention, in Yenagoa, observed that some of the ex-agitators had taken deliberate steps to rehabilitate themselves from drug abuse.
But he said persons, who were yet to undergo rehabilitation would partake in the free health checks to be offered by PAP.
Dikio urged the youths to reevaluate persons they looked up to as their role models adding that it was not glamorous for anyone to be arrested and put behind bars.
The amnesty boss said youths must count the cost of their actions explaining that intake of hard drugs would surely have negative consequences on their lives.
He said it was wrong for anybody to believe that getting high on drugs was necessary to deal with daily challenges.
He said clearheadness was all that was required for people to chart a good course for their lives and thanked the Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Douye Diri, for convening the stakeholders’ meeting.
He said: “I have 30,000 registered ex-agitators. It is a small sampling of our population. We are thinking of doing health evaluation of what drug had done against them. Some have rehabilitate themselves but others have not.
“Who do u see as your role model? Life behind the bars is not glamorous. Think again and count the cost. Some people in the military say you need to be high to face your enemies. It is not true. You need to be clearheaded to face your enemy.
“You need to be clearheaded to chart a good course for your life. I thank the governor for convening this programme.
