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The Kano State Government has set a target of taking 10,000 drug users off the streets and rehabilitating them within one year as part of a new strategy to tackle substance abuse and its links to violent crime.

The Chairman of the Kano State Multi-Joint Task Force on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Muhuyi Magaji Rimin-Gado, disclosed this on Saturday while outlining the government’s planned intervention for drug users, convicted offenders and vulnerable youths involved in substance abuse.

Rimin-Gado said the initiative would go beyond arrests and imprisonment by combining detoxification, rehabilitation, skills acquisition and economic empowerment to help former drug users reintegrate into society.

“Our goal is to take away 10,000 people from the streets within one year. This is a different approach from only taking them to prison. We are thinking about rehabilitation,” he said.

He explained that the process would begin with detoxification, after which beneficiaries would be enrolled in rehabilitation programmes and equipped with skills to make them economically productive.

“After what we call detoxification, we will take them to rehabilitation and guide them. All this will expose them to the necessary knowledge they need to address drug abuse, including training,” Rimin-Gado said.

According to him, the government plans to train beneficiaries in areas including tailoring, shoemaking, garment production and other crafts, with plans to expand the programme to additional trades and services.

“We are going to employ a mechanism where we will give training, including different kinds of craftsmanship that they would engage in,” he said.

The task force chairman said the intervention was designed to address the link between drug abuse, unemployment and violent crime, particularly gun violence involving youths.

“If you look at our operations, when going after these youths, it is not because we hate them or do not want them. It is because we want them rehabilitated,” he said.

Rimin-Gado said the government had also begun discussions with correctional authorities and other stakeholders to ensure that people released from correctional facilities could undergo rehabilitation and acquire skills to support their reintegration.

He said some drug users would be treated differently depending on the severity of their substance abuse, adding that those found with multiple substances could face prosecution, while others could be placed under the care of their parents or guardians.

The chairman said the planned intervention would also create economic opportunities by linking rehabilitated persons with markets in Kano, arguing that the approach could simultaneously reduce drug dependence and strengthen the state’s economy.

“We do not only eradicate the issue of drug dependence, drug abuse or gun violence; at the same time, we are building our economic potential,” he said.

Rimin-Gado described the programme as ambitious but expressed confidence that collaboration among government agencies, security institutions, correctional authorities, private-sector players and other stakeholders would make it successful.

“It’s a very ambitious project, but at least the government is very determined, and with the National [agencies] on board, we are going to succeed,” he said.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership, led by Abdulrahman Mohammed, said on Sunday that it was not part of the opposition summit being organised by the socio-political pressure group G-100.

The summit, scheduled for August 31, 2026, in Abuja, is expected to bring together several opposition party figures to chart a common front against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

The summit is expected to explore ways to present a common candidate against the President, but some opposition parties have already backed out of the arrangement.

The Africa Democratic Congress (ADC) was quoted as saying that it does not need the coalition to win the presidential election next year, and indicated that its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was not ready to step down from the race for another candidate.

National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Jagundo Haruna Mohammed, told The Nation on Sunday that they were not aware of any summit being organised by opposition parties and were not party to any.

He said, “The PDP is not aware of any gathering in the name of an opposition summit. We are also not in any planned arrangement with any political party for any possible alliance. And any opposition discussion where the PDP is not a party to is dead on arrival.”

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A good Samaritan has rescued an abandoned newborn baby girl alive near Ashar forest at Wuese community in the Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State.

The baby, who was said to have been wrapped up in clothes and kept in a carton by an unknown person, was picked up on Saturday, August 29, 2026, by one Mrs Mbakasev Yisa, with maggots allegedly found around the baby and a foul smell emanating from the carton.

An eyewitness and a councillor who identified himself as Terkumbur Mbaukaan told journalists on the phone in Makurdi, the state capital, on Sunday, that the baby was in an extremely critical condition when she was rescued and immediately evacuated to Dooshima Clinic in Wuese for medical attention.

The councillor narrated that the passerby, Yisa, first discovered the abandoned newborn in the forest and immediately reported the situation to the police outpost situated in the area.

He said, “As a councillor representing the area, I visited the scene to personally assess the situation and ascertain the condition of the abandoned child.

“So, when the policemen came to the scene, they carried out necessary documentation of the discovery and equally directed that Mrs Yisa take the baby to a medical facility for urgent medical attention. And because the baby’s condition was so critical, the first clinic we approached could not admit the child.

“We later took the baby to Dooshima Clinic in Wuese, Konshisha LGA, where she is being treated and fed with glucose and NAN infant formula as medical personnel work to stabilise the infant.”

He said tests have been conducted to ensure the baby is healthy. However, she remains under observation at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after being exposed to harsh external conditions immediately after birth.

“I have made a financial donation towards the child’s upkeep and appealed to the medical personnel to ensure that the infant receives continuous and effective treatment.

“I am using this opportunity to appeal to individuals, humanitarian organisations, community leaders, government agencies and other people of goodwill to support the baby’s treatment and welfare.

“We are managing the situation at our own level as a community. We have even told those police officers attached to the police outpost here in our community not to take the matter to the Divisional Police Office in Tse- Agbaragba yet, because we are following up the matter; we’ll do our best to ensure that the newborn baby gets well. I’m also making concerted efforts to get across to the local government council chairman. He is yet to be informed,” he said.

Similarly, the community’s youth leader, Udigi Waya, equally confirmed the rescue of the newborn baby.

He lamented over the situation, saying that the baby may have spent approximately three days in the abandoned condition before she was rescued.

When contacted, the command’s spokesperson, Peter Aondongu, said he was yet to get such a report.

“I have called the DPO of Konshisha local government area, and he told me that he is not aware of such a situation yet. So, I will still call him and get back to the press,” he said.

The identity of the mother, the circumstances surrounding the delivery and what led her to the abandonment of the newborn remain unknown as of the time of filing this report.