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AKUSKURA: the new deadly Psychoactive Substance in town 

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Forfeited properties: Two underpriced Lagos buildings sold in 2001 – NDLEA

AKUSKURA: the new deadly Psychoactive Substance in town 

By Mahmud Isa Yola

Recently, there has been a rapid emergence of a dangerous new psychoactive substance known as Akuskura/Kuskura, which is made of herbs laced with tobacco and cannabis and which is rapidly replacing controlled psychoactive substances, dominantly in the northern and south-west parts of Nigeria. When taken, the substance sometimes causes sudden, violent, irregular movement of the body and contraction of muscles.

The name Akuskura, sometimes known as kuskura or akurkura, is derived from the Hausa word “kuskura” noun, which can be used interchangeably to mean gargling and rinsing. The substance, which is of different varieties, is used in both liquid and powdered form by people who mostly seek to raise their levels of psychological or nervous activity in the body, or put it in simple terms, get high.

Akuskura came into the front-line  on social and conventional media when the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, intercepted over seven thousand bottles of the illicit substance along the Abuja-Kaduna express road, slated for distribution across seven northern states of Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe and Nasarawa. Although the seizure is the biggest made so far, there were several arrests and seizures made by the agency in different parts of the country.

Following the record-breaking seizure, the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, in a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on August 19th, made the announcement of the official ban of the psychoactive substance. She said the agency received a number of reports of the use of a herbal preparation known as “Kurkura,” particularly in the country’s South West and Northern axis.The agency swung into action and carried out intelligence and enforcement actions. 

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, New Psychoactive Substances are “substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971 Convention on Psychoactive Substances but which may pose a public health threat”. The term “new” does not necessarily refer to new inventions—several NPS were first synthesized decades ago—but to substances that have recently become available on the market.

As a new psychoactive substance, Akuskura represents a serious threat to public health and poses a challenge for drug policy. The negative health impacts and social harms of NPS are frequently largely unexplored, which makes prevention and counseling extremely difficult. It is difficult to analyze and identify the many different chemicals that are simultaneously present in the drug.

The above facts place people who take new psychoactive substances such as Akuskura at a high risk. According to the UNODC, the use of NPS is often linked to health problems. In general, side effects of NPS range from seizures to agitation, aggression, and acute psychosis, as well as potential development of dependence. NPS users have frequently been hospitalized with severe intoxications. Many NPS have no or very limited safety data on their toxicity and carcinogenic potential, and information on long-term adverse effects or risks is still largely unknown.The purity and composition of products containing NPS are often unknown, which places users at high risk, as evidenced by hospital emergency admissions and deaths associated with NPS, often including cases of poly-substance use.

Akuskura is largely distributed under the guise of herbs. They are mostly retailed by local herbalists and Islamic chemists, to mention but a few.

A kuskura wholesaler in Zaria city explained that the substance is originally meant for the treatment of headaches and catarrh and serves as a poster remedy against jinns and evil spirits. He says kuskura is also used as a sex enhancer among men. However, there is no scientific explanation for whether the substances are safe or can cure any form of sickness. This therefore drives home the fact that the substance has no established medicinal value.

Despite its unsafe nature, Akuskura is patronized by thousands of people in Nigeria.

Maikudi Shaga, a 31-year-old Zaria-based mechanic, confessed in a newspaper interview that he is addicted to the substance, adding that he uses the liquid substance at least seven times a day and said it gives him the energy to work efficiently without being subjected to physical fatigue.

Another user, Malam Adamu Mohammed, who spoke in a media interview, said that he does not see Akuskura as an illicit substance and that is the notion held by many other users. He said he has been using it for more than a year now and it cures malaria, typhoid, pile headaches and increases his performance in bed.

The spread of Akuskura is undoubtedly aided by the fact that the substance is largely and ignorantly misconstrued as a medicine. A whole-seller in Zaria was quoted to have said he sells more than 300 bottles of Akuskura in a day.

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Another factor that aids the prevalence of Kuskura is its affordable price. The substance is readily available in Islamic chemists’ and other local herbal centers at a very cheap price. With a bottle sold at the cost of N100 and sometimes a drip for N50, the Akuskura is affordable even to a low-income earner.

Thirdly, the substance gives both hallucinogenic and stimulant effects to its users. Hence, it is filling the void of controlled substances, which are now very scarce due to the surge of arrests and seizures by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). With a bottle of codeine sold between N7,000 And N25,000 and beyond, Akuskura offers substance abusers an easy alternative with just N100 or even less.

However, the adverse effect of Akuskura remains disturbing. Like all other illicit substances, Akuskura gives a euphoric effect of being “high” for a certain period of time. However, there are health-threatening short and long time effects such as dissociation, violent episodes, psychotic episodes, compulsive desire to commit crime, aggression, perceptual distortion, hallucination and many others. 

The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) OFR, during a brief interview with the British Broadcasting Cooperation, BBC Hausa, said that the agency will continue to dismantle the clandestine factories behind the production of the illicit substance, adding that the recent seizure of over 7,000 bottles by the agency sends a warning to the peddlers of the illicit drug that the NDLEA will continue to deal with them within the ambit of the law. This should serve as a desist warning to the users and traffickers.

Mahmud Isa Yola is Special Assistant to the Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA

Isamahmud77@gmail.com   

AKUSKURA: the new deadly Psychoactive Substance in town 

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Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

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Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

By:Michael Mike

No fewer than 66 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, packaged as green tea have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

According to the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, the seizure made last Thursday was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on 11th May.

Babafemi, in the statement issued on Sunday, disclosed that the NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment, and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday.

He said the Loud consignment weighing 62.2 kilogrammes was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirate Airlines flight.

Babafemi said in another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives last Monday intercepted a consignment of 1,665 kilogrammes skunk, a strain of cannabis, along Lekki-Ajah expressway. Two suspects: Gidado Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.

In Kaduna, operatives of the state command of NDLEA on patrol along Abuja – Kaduna expressway last Tuesday arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam. In another operation same day, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer Kabiru Musa (a.k.a KB) was arrested at Kurmin Mashi. A total of 25.7 kilogrammes skunk was earlier recovered from his base.
While a total of 9 kilogrammes Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon car marked AAA 975 XU driven by Atari Israel, 45, along Auchi road, Edo state, two young women: Favour Joy and Joy Igwe were last Tuesday nabbed at Ikpoba hill area of Benin city. Recovered from them include: 106.57 kilogrammes skunk; 1 kilogramme Loud; 800 grammes Colorado and 302 grammes of methamphetamine.

Babafemi said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country in the past week.

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) while commending the officers and men of MMIA, Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

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Crime

Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

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Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

By: Zagazola Makama

A 27-year-old man, Ismail Ahmed, has died after being trapped in an abandoned mining pit in Pangu Village, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident happened on Saturday, June 7, during a heavy downpour while Ahmed was washing clothes by a nearby stream.

According to family members, he sought shelter from the rain by entering the old mining hole dug by former gold miners. The soil collapsed due to the heavy rain, trapping him inside.

Community members rescued him and rushed him to Kwali General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The family declined an autopsy and opted for burial according to Islamic rites.

Local residents have been advised to exercise caution and avoid unsafe locations, particularly during the rainy season, to prevent similar tragedies.

Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

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Crime

Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

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Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Sector 5 of Operation UDO KA, in a joint operation with operatives of the 63 Brigade and the Department of State Services (DSS), have intercepted a truck loaded with over 164,000 live cartridges allegedly being supplied to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the operation followed credible intelligence which led to the arrest of a suspected arms courier, Mr Emeka Omenife, along the Asaba–Onitsha expressway on 29 May 2025.

According to the sources, Omenife was immediately handed over to the DSS for interrogation. During questioning, he reportedly confessed to being part of a syndicate involved in transporting ammunition from Ghana to Nigeria for IPOB/ESN operatives.

Following his confession, troops arrested his accomplice, Mr Uchenna Obiora, at the Onitsha–Awka tollgate on 30 May 2025, while he was awaiting delivery of the ammunition.The arrest led to the interception of a truck which had the concealed ammunition.

“Upon interception, the vehicle was moved to Onitsha Cantonment, where a thorough search revealed a total of 164,650 live cartridges hidden in four constructed compartments within the cargo bed of the truck,” a source told Zagazola.

The cartridges, believed to have been purchased from Ghana, had Onitsha as their destination, the source added. Further investigations are ongoing to track down other members of the syndicate and their collaborators.

Zagazola also confirmed from security sources that Omenife had earlier been arrested by troops and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) tracking team on Jan. 22 at his residence in Onitsha Housing Estate.

During the January operation, he attempted to flee and was shot in the buttocks before being evacuated to the 302 Army Regiment Medical Services for treatment. He was later handed over to the Anambra State Police Criminal Investigation Department, Annex Akwuzu, for prosecution. His re-arrest in May suggests that he may have returned to the same criminal enterprise following his release in an unexplained circumstances.

Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

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