The Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), a police advocacy group, has urged parents and stakeholders to ensure proper moral upbringing of their children to curb drug abuse and cultism in the society.
Its National Coordinator, CSP Ebere Amaraizu, gave the task on Saturday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on the prospects of the police advocacy group for 2024.
Amaraizu said it has been established that, “there is a serious connection between heinous crime with drug abuse and intake of stimulating substances among youth”.
According to him, it is through drug abuse and joining bad companies (cult groups) that some children and youth take to perpetrate unimaginable crimes.
He said: “For 2024, I task parents and stakeholders on children upbringing, to take responsibility for moral, ethical and societal rebirth for a functional positive community and society.
“There are dangers on the ground arising from lack of integrity, honesty, morals, values, standard and discipline in most communities and society at large.
“Some of our children and youth are no longer on the good pathway but rather have misunderstood life due to lack of contentment and high drive for materialistic tendencies.
“Today, family values have gone into oblivion, people are no longer giving back to the society, rather are constantly taking what is in the society. There is a struggle to gain immunity to the detriment of social justice.”
According to Amaraizu, the implication of wrong foundation in families and society is that the whole of these constitute push, pull factors and drivers to crimes.
He said that stakeholders and parents must sustain awareness creation on promoting positive behaviours to change mindsets and attitude as well as encourage reward for good deeds among children and youth.
“There is a need to expose young minds to life changing experiences and opportunities through seminars and workshops for them to learn from their peers to enable them to contribute positively to their communities and society at large”.
