{"id":121701,"date":"2025-08-28T20:26:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T19:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=121701"},"modified":"2025-08-28T20:26:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T19:26:35","slug":"nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1841719370734255992\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1841719370734255992-header\" class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/div>\n<div id=\"m#msg-f:1841719370734255992-content\" class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Nigerian Army has raised serious concerns over a surge in drug and substance abuse among its personnel, cautioning that the growing trend poses a major threat to discipline, operational efficiency, and the overall combat readiness of troops deployed across various conflict zones in the country.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Major General OS Abai, Chief of Transformation and Innovation, issued the warning on Thursday during a seminar on transformational leadership held at the Theatre Command Officers\u2019 Mess, 7 Division, in Maiduguri.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">Describing the situation as a &#8220;malaise&#8221; within the ranks, Major General Abai stressed that the impact of drug abuse among soldiers is eroding discipline and weakening the effectiveness of military operations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cDrug abuse among personnel is becoming a malaise that undermines our effectiveness in combat zones,\u201d he said, noting that leadership, regimentation, and discipline are essential to reposition the Nigerian Army for its constitutional responsibilities.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The seminar, themed \u201cTransformational Leadership and NA Operational Effectiveness in a Joint and Multi-Agency Environment,\u201d was organised by the Army Headquarters Department of Transformation and Innovation. It was attended by senior military officers, commanders, and representatives from other security agencies and institutions.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The event featured two key lectures titled: \u201cBuilding the Leadership Capacity of Junior and Mid-Cadre Commanders: The Role of Operational Level Commanders in the NA\u201d and \u201cEffects of Drug\/Substance Abuse on Combat Readiness in the NA.\u201d<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">General Abai emphasised that the seminar aimed to build leadership capacity, institutionalise mentorship, and motivate junior and mid-level commanders to lead more effectively within joint operations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThis initiative is in line with the Command Philosophy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General OO Oluyede, which focuses on consolidating the transformation of the Nigerian Army into a well-motivated, combat-ready force,\u201d he explained.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">He encouraged participants to engage actively in the discussions, highlighting that developing capable leaders and addressing the issue of indiscipline and substance abuse are critical to the success of military operations.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBuilding competent leaders and tackling indiscipline and drug abuse among troops are vital to the success of ongoing military operations,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"text-align: justify;\">The seminar concluded with a renewed call for improved leadership, mentorship, and collaboration across all levels of command to enhance the Nigerian Army\u2019s effectiveness in joint and multi-agency engagements.<\/div>\n<div id=\"m_-8316362950114016040ymail_android_signature\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi The Nigerian Army has raised serious concerns over a surge in drug and substance abuse among its personnel, cautioning that the growing trend poses a major threat&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-121701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lizzy Chirkpi The Nigerian Army has raised serious concerns over a surge in drug and substance abuse among its personnel, cautioning that the growing trend poses a major threat&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"742\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"486\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\"},\"wordCount\":377,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\",\"name\":\"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg\",\"width\":742,\"height\":486},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News","og_description":"By Lizzy Chirkpi The Nigerian Army has raised serious concerns over a surge in drug and substance abuse among its personnel, cautioning that the growing trend poses a major threat&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":742,"height":486,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers","datePublished":"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/"},"wordCount":377,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/","name":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg","datePublished":"2025-08-28T19:26:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Nigerian-Army-LOGO.jpg","width":742,"height":486},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/nigerian-army-raises-alarm-over-drug-abuse-among-soldiers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Nigerian Army Raises Alarm Over Drug Abuse Among Soldiers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/83b3820ef93d502ae3a617b2c881ca42?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121701"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121701\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121702,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121701\/revisions\/121702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}