A combined team of law enforcement agencies in Kitwe has picked up 24 pupils aged between 15 and 21 in connection with drug abuse and alcohol abuse within school premises.
Officers from Zambia Police and Drug Enforcement Commission rounded up the 24 pupils and one school leaver during an operation conducted on Tuesday morning.
The suspects are detained at Kitwe’s Riverside Police Station.
Speaking when Kitwe district commissioner Lawrence Mwanza and Kitwe district education board secretary Christopher Nyungila visited the police station, Riverside Police Station Officer Incharge Thomas Swala said the 24 pupils are from Kitwe Boys, Mukuba Boys and Parklands Secondary Schools.
Mr. Swala said Police further picked up a school leaver from North Western Province who was found abusing drugs alongside pupils.
“A total number of 24 pupils and 1 school leaver have been picked by the Zambia police from Kitwe Boy’s secondary school for suspected drug abuse. The boys were picked up during an operation conducted at the school between 11 -12 hours on 28 th June 2022. Out of the 24 pupils, two were from Mukuba Secondary School while one was from Parklands Secondary School while the school leaver was identified as Clement Katilungu aged 20 from North Western Province. The boys were picked up in an area prone to drug and alcohol abuse within the school premises and are currently detained at Riverside Police Station,” Mr. Swala said.
Drug abuse among youths is reported to be rife in Kitwe City.
“All of them are males. The distribution is: 21 from Kitwe Boys Secondary School then we have four who are not from that school. Two are from Mukuba Secondary School then we have one from Parklands School and we have one who is a school leaver. This one Clement Katilungu completed school in North Western Province at Zambezi Boarding School. He is 20 year old. He was captured within our area of target. The age range is between 15 and 21. The oldest appears to be Katilungu. These are the boys, we have not yet booked them but we have recorded all their particulars.The operation involved the Zambia Police from Kitwe District Headquarters, and then we also had four officers from the Drug Enforcement Commission who came to work with us. They were captured from an area prone to abuse of liquor and dagga within the school premises,” he said.
Kitwe District Education Board Secretary Christopher Nyungila said the arrests and detention would help curb illicit activities in schools.
Mr. Nyungila saluted the Police officers and the Drug Enforcement Commission for carrying out the operation in schools.
Kitwe District Commissioner Lawrence Mwanza said the state is restoring sanity in the district and appealed to parents to monitor the activities of their school children.
GOOD MOVE
HOWEVER PARENTS SHOULD BE MADE TO ACCOUNT AS WELL
Nowadays most children don’t know why they go to school. Some parents have contributed to this delinquency. Teachers are helpless because whenever they try to discipline these children their parents come and humiliate them with unprintables in the presence of other learners. The Law on alcohol sale and consumption has been weakened by local authorities. Anyone can buy beer at any time. Strong spirits are sold at Tunthemba as early as 6hrs. Wholesalers sell even to unlicensed buyers. At Kamfinsa, prisoners that are allowed into communities to work are the conduits for drugs. Please widen your scope of operations and you’ll notice the extent of the scourge. At Chamboli it’s those that have left school that mountn roadblocks to allow learners to go to school at a fee. If they don’t pay…
When soldiers discipline these same kids whose parents do not participate in parenting we start screaming human rights. All they needs are some nice hot slaps during these cold days and they will come right. Slap the parents too to remind them of that responsibility goes beyond buying nappies.
Well, the approach to this in some countries is to ease the laws. Children enjoy breaking laws. Some countries target dealers of hard drugs and not users. Those kids are just being abused by the dealers , so target the source and not the end result.
Just counsel them, don’t beat them. They are better than those who were in government and keeping Zebras as a symbol of stolen wealth
Beat those f00ls