Ogun now haven for hemp farmers—NDLEA

The Ogun State Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has raised the alarm that the state is gradually becoming a haven for the cultivators  of cannabis sativa, popularly called Indian hemp.

The NDLEA said that the cultivation of cannabis sativa which has begun to displace normal farming activities in some parts of the state could result in food shortage.

The state Commander of the NDLEA, Mr. Bala Fagge, stated this while speaking at a Public Sensitization Seminar organised by the Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Fagge said that the large expanse of land across the state were now being used to cultivate Indian hemp rather than for the purpose of practising normal agriculture.

He added that many of the farmers across the state have decided to abandon their normal farming activities for the cultivation of Indian hemp which they believed was more lucrative.

The Ogun NDLEA boss stressed that as part of the agency’s efforts to check this dangerous trend, the agency recently embarked on the direct destruction of identified cannabis farms in parts of the state.

He said, “And now in Ogun state, most of the cannabis cultivators are coming into our state. Last week, we spent almost two days in the forest spraying over 30 hectares of Indian hemp that has been cultivated.

“That is a very dangerous trend that has made us to collaborate with the state government, ministry of forestry and the local government councils to ensure that cannabis cultivators have no place in Ogun State.”