Rwanda National Police

In a bid to counter drug abuse among the youth in Gatsibo district, Rwanda National Police (RNP) has reached out to students of Gabiro High school to educate them about their role in fighting against drug abuse and trafficking.

The campaign - which is a continuous practice by (RNP) – was conducted on September 2 and benefited over 600 students.

Gatsibo District Community Liaison Officer (DCLO), Inspector of Police (IP) Roger Rwakayiro, told the students that drugs threaten the nation's youth and leads to physical and mental disability, emotional damage, and a decline in educational achievement and productivity of young people.

“The youth should take a lead in the fight against drugs. A credible school is one which provides a major influence in transmitting values, standards, and information to students, including alerting them about the adverse consequences associated with abusing drugs,” he told the students and school administrators present at the campaign.

He added that; “Students should always be given the liberty and time to discuss the extent of drug abuse among youth in neighborhoods, why drug abuse occurs, the effects of drug abuse, what schools can do to combat the problem in their communities,  and what school administrators can do to discourage the practice.”

IP Rwakayiro noted that frequent drug users skip school or arrive late, while they are also likely to score low grades, and thus called on students to alert their administrators whenever they notice that a colleague is involved or addicted.

“Students have to be ambassadors of this fight against drugs by alerting their administrators whenever they realize that some of their colleagues are addicted, so that they may get help in the quickest time possible, while administrators are also urged to report to police whenever they suspect that drugs are distributed to their students,” he noted.

“Schools are also urged to conduct regular surveys of students, collaborate with law enforcers and consult with parents about their respective roles and how they can collectively fight drugs before they become a menace to the youth,” said the DCLO.

Students interacted with police officers and were also educated on how to fight against several other crimes.

The youth representative at the district level, Bernadette Umfuyisoni, educated the students on Ndi Umunyarwanda programme  - saying that it is an initiative with an ultimate goal of building a national identity and to foster a Rwandan community that is based on trust and unity.