Although Nigeria is grappling with an alarming drug crisis, with a United Nations report revealing that 14.4 per cent of its population aged 15 to 64 (nearly triple the global average) abuse drugs, the Police headquarters in Abuja has clarified that a viral video trending in social media showing school girls smoking Indian hemp (Cannabis), purporting to be from Nigeria and causing anxiety among parents, is not from Nigeria but Zimbabwe.
Force Public Relations Officer ACP Muyiwa Adejobi made this known on Thursday even as he cautioned the public to exercise restraint over the dissemination of unverified information.
He said, “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a deeply concerning video currently circulating on WhatsApp and other social media platforms, depicting a school-aged girl smoking what appears to be cannabis, surrounded and cheered on by her classmates.
“The video has been widely shared with captions suggesting the incident occurred within a Nigerian school, prompting significant concern and anxiety amongst Nigerian parents and the wider community.
“However, a preliminary investigation into its origin strongly suggests that the video did not originate in Nigeria, with multiple indicators pointing towards the video’s likely origin being in Zimbabwe.
“The evidence supporting this conclusion includes the language spoken within the video.
“Individuals featured are heard speaking in both English and Shona, the latter being a language predominantly spoken in Zimbabwe and parts of southern Africa.
“Critically, no Nigerian languages or discernible Nigerian accents are present in the audio.
“Furthermore, the original upload of the video was accompanied by a caption written in Shona, with its initial posting on the Instagram channel @rusape_celebs_tv, a channel which is demonstrably based in the town of Rusape, Zimbabwe.
We urge the public to exercise caution when “sharing unverified information, particularly when it involves sensitive content and carries the potential to impact individuals, organizations, and entire communities negatively.
“The Force strongly encourages responsible sharing of information and thorough verification of sources before amplifying potentially harmful claims.”
Back in Nigeria, however, a professor of psychiatry and clinical psychology at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Olurotimi Coker, raised an alarm over the growing mental health crisis among boys in Nigeria.
According to him, mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse are increasingly affecting young boys in Nigeria. Unfortunately, these issues are often overlooked due to societal expectations that boys must always appear strong.
A study conducted at a Borstal Institution in North-Central Nigeria found that 82.5 per cent of adolescent male residents had psychiatric disorders. The most prevalent conditions were disruptive behaviour disorders (40.8 per cent), followed by substance use disorders (15.8 per cent), anxiety disorders (14.2 per cent), psychosis (6.7 per cent), and mood disorders (five per cent).
