The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it is considering a new policy that will make it mandatory for single ladies to get a drug test before they get married.

Chairman of the agency, Mohammed Mustapha Abdalla, disclosed this during the destruction of illicit substances seized in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, on Friday, August 21.

According to Abdalla, drug tests may have to be included in premarital screenings in churches and mosques due to the alarming increase in the rate of drug addiction among girls and married women across the country. He said that recent statistics show that drug trafficking and abuse which was hitherto rampant among the male population, is increasing exponentially within teenage girls, young women, and old married women.

“As an extension of the proposed Drugs Integrity Test Policy in the public service, the NDLEA is also considering partnering with religious leaders to make drug test a prerequisite for marriage in Churches and Mosques just as the case of HIV/AIDS and genotype test.

We can no longer remain indifferent to the problems and refused to take responsibility in an effort to control drugs, we must come to term that drugs issue is a shared responsibility for all in the society.

Government at all levels, community and religious leaders, parents, social workers, the media, youth organisations and policy makers should see it as a point of duty to come together and identify with our office efforts of combating drug abuse.” he said