1,000 Nigerians detained in Chinese prisons

Minister of Youths Development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, at the weekend, said there were about 1,000 Nigerian youths detained in various prisons in China for drug-related offences.

Abdullahi, said in Ilorin during a chat with journalists, that he had already written to the government of China for the details of their offences so that the Federal Government could use them as a form of campaign to discourage Nigerian youths from embarking on drug trafficking.

“This is a very serious matter. I have written to the government of China and I am planning to actually travel there on behalf of the Federal Government to have the details of their cases,” he said.

The minister expressed regret that many Nigerian youths who indulged in drug trafficking business in a bid to get rich quick were not always aware of the dire consequences and the risks involved.

According to him, “The risks far outweigh the benefits, in fact there is none. Whoever gets involved will get caught sooner than later and whatever that might have been acquired will go with it. So where is the benefit?”

Abdullahi added: “The only way to good living is to be involved in legitimate business where nobody is running after you for committing an offence. There is nothing like getting rich quick and there is no short cut to it.”

The minister, however, commended the initiative of Lagos State Government where youths and others found guilty of committing certain offences were made to serve the community, instead of sending them to prisons.

“Lagos State is doing great thing in this particular area and I think it should be commended and others should emulate it,” he said.

This Day

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