A 60-year-old resident of Tudun Wada Community in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau, Mrs Martha Paul, has decried the rising intake of dry gin, popularly known as “Goskolo”, among youths in Plateau. Martha told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Jos that the substance claimed the life of her only son. “I lost my son to goskolo; he was hooked on it and it killed him,” she said.
File photo: Unbranded bottle of drinks used for the purpose of representation only (Image source: Google) The petty trader said that her late son was a 300-level student at the University of Jos when he died in 2022. NAN reports that the liquid substance, which is also known as ”ogogoro” or ”kai-kai”, is far stronger than the average alcohol. It is a spirit drink locally made in homes and hardly goes through the usual process of gin production. “My son developed complications that later affected his internal organs due to high consumption of the illicit drink. ”As we speak, my heart is heavy. No mother should experience my pains. This is why parents must pay close attention to what their children are doing. ”I also want to appeal to young people to desist from taking illicit substances. Drug abuse is generally dangerous to our health and society as a whole,” she said. She called on the government to ban the production and consumption of goskolo, insisting that such step would curtail the challenges that usually arise with its consumption. On his part, Mr Agwom Azi, the community leader of Mado in Tudun Wada, decried the consumption of illicit substances by young people in the area. Azi attributed the increasing rate of petty crimes and other social vices in the community to high intake of hard drugs by young people. He added that the trend was constituting serious threats to the existing peace in Tudun Wada. ”I will be very happy if government and other relevant organisations can address the spate of drug abuse in Plateau. ”Petty thefts and other social vices are on the rise in most communities; young people have abandoned schools and other meaningful ventures, opting to indulge in consumption of illicit substances. ”As we speak, I’m handling a case where a young man impreganted his younger sister because he is always high on ogogoro. “Children beat up their parents at the slightest provocation and physically abuse other people becaue they are under the influence of goskolo. ”As a community, we are calling on government to take drastic steps toward addressing this menace; that is the only way to guarantee a peaceful, virile and progressive society.”