Monrovia – The President of Liberia Council of Churches, or LCC, Bishop Kortu K. Brown has described the fight against illicit drugs a national emergency.
Report By Edwin G. Genoway, Jr. [email protected]
“This issue of fighting against illicit drugs is a national emergency that needs the attention of every Liberian and not government alone, the church, civil society, young and old including officials of government need to get involved in the process of fighting this nightmare,” he said
He was speaking at the general evangelism workshop, held at the New Covent Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Gardnersville under the auspices of the Monrovia district of the Apostolic Pentecostal Church.
Bishop Brown, also General Overseer of the New Water in the Desert Apostolic Pentecostal Church in Brewerville, later told reporters that he foresees a bleak future for Liberia if the fight against narcotic drugs is not given a major priority.
“If you check in the street today, you will find out young people taking in drugs and these drugs are being brought in by all kinds of people, we need to fight against this act before our children spoil,” he noted.
The religious cleric stressed the need for every citizen to give huge support to paramilitary institutions like the Drugs Enforcement Agency, the Liberia National Police and other civil society working groups that are leading the efforts to curb illicit drugs in the country.
“If the citizens themselves cannot fight this act, we urged that they give their fullest support to the relevant authorities responsible to fight drugs to make Liberia at least a drug-free country and avoid our young people getting addicted,” he said.
Bishop Brown said the DEA must identify and bring to book illicit drugs traffickers and prominent individuals caught shielding them.
“The issue of shielding drugs traffickers is one of the major problems our country is faced with, we urged the Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency and the Liberia National Police to not shield anyone caught in the act of trafficking,” he continued.
He wants those involved be identified or named and shamed as precedence to warn others.
“They must be identified, arrested and prosecuted because they don’t have this country at heart, they are destroying a huge portion of the nation’s population,” Bishop Brown averred.
The LCC President noted that drug users are invading the country and destroying the future of the next generation and making people ineffective and if nothing is done, Liberia could suffer a setback.
He said there is an urgent need for the Legislature to make drug abuse or drug paddling a non-billable offense under the law.
He noted that effective law enforcement; incarceration, tough punishment and repression will ensure a significant cut down on demand and harm caused by these dangerous substances in the country.
Bishop Brown urged the Churches, communities, families and all citizens to join the fight against drug abuse and addiction, noting that if the number of drugs users overshadows the number of educated people, it might become a major challenge for Liberia.