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

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.

According to Bala, the cultivation of cannabis sativa which has begun to displace normal farming activities in some parts of the state could result in food shortage, noting that large expanse of land across the state were now being used to cultivate Indian hemp rather than for the purpose of practicing 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, to the extent that cannabis cultivators are trooping into the state.

The Ogun NDLEA boss stressed that as part of the agency’s efforts to check this dangerous trend, it recently embarked on the direct destruction of identified cannabis farms in parts of the state, disclosing that the agency spent almost two days in the forest spraying over 30 hectares of Indian hemp that has been cultivated.

He concluded however that the dangerous trend has made the NDLEA 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.