There is no age limit when it comes to drug abuse in Nigeria. Yet, the danger becomes far more disturbing when traffickers begin finding ways to put dangerous substances within the reach of children. The latest warning by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency should therefore not be dismissed as another routine drug-awareness message. Parents, schools and government agencies must take it seriously.
The NDLEA, through its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, urged parents to pay closer attention to the snacks their children consume. Recent seizures, according to the agency, have exposed attempts by traffickers to disguise prohibited substances as ordinary confectionery.
This is dark mischief.
Drugs disguised as sweets
The concern is heightened by the seizure of colourful products labelled “Cookies Delta 8 Gummies.” Some of the products reportedly carried flavours such as Hawaiian Rain Pineapple Guava and Thai Mango. Their packaging also described them as vegan and hemp-derived.
To an unsuspecting child, such products could easily appear harmless. That is what makes the development particularly troubling. When criminals begin disguising intoxicating substances as cookies, sweets and gummies, the drug war moves beyond the streets. It enters homes, schools and the everyday lives of children.
The threat is not peculiar to Nigeria. The United States Food and Drug Administration has previously warned that Delta-8 THC products can be mistaken for ordinary foods, including cookies, candy and gummies. Nigeria must therefore recognise the changing nature of the illicit drug market. Traffickers are not only looking for traditional ways to distribute drugs. They are also finding new methods of making dangerous substances appear attractive and ordinary.
Recent seizures in the country underline the scale of the challenge. On Tuesday, the NDLEA destroyed drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis and opioids valued at N301 billion. The substances were seized between April 2025 and May 2026. The Nigeria Customs Service also reportedly intercepted two 40-foot containers at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. The containers allegedly contained cannabis-infused products concealed among legitimate imports, including used vehicles, generators, batteries and fabrics.
The consignment reportedly included thousands of Delta-8 cannabis pre-roll cookies, cannabis-infused gummies and other cannabis-infused cookies. The seized products had an estimated street value of about N373.8 million before they were handed over to the NDLEA.
A changing drug market
The scale of the global drug problem should concern Nigeria. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported in its 2026 World Drug Report that 755 new psychoactive substances were on the global market in 2024, compared with 582 in 2023. By 2025, member states had identified almost 1,500 different new psychoactive substances since 2005.
These figures show how quickly the illicit drug market is changing. They also make it harder for parents and authorities to recognise every new form in which dangerous substances may appear. The UNODC further reported in April 2026 that synthetic opioids were increasingly appearing in unconventional forms, including confectionery and other products not normally associated with drug use.
The online dimension makes the problem even more worrying. UNODC data showed that darknet sales, mostly involving drugs, reached about $2.5 billion in 2025. Retail drug sales are also increasingly taking place through social media. This gives criminal networks more avenues to reach young people directly and discreetly.
The danger of accidental ingestion should not be underestimated. Research cited in the US National Fatality Review-Case Reporting System indicates that opioids contribute to nearly 65 per cent of accidental poisoning deaths among children aged five and under.
Parents cannot fight this alone
Parents should pay attention to unfamiliar snacks brought home by their children. They should be particularly cautious about products purchased online or obtained from questionable sources. More importantly, parents should talk to their children about the dangers of accepting food, sweets or gummies from strangers and other people without knowing where they came from.
Schools must also become part of the solution. Children should learn how drug traffickers can disguise dangerous substances as ordinary food products. They should know why accepting unfamiliar sweets or snacks can put them at risk. Government agencies have an even greater responsibility. The NDLEA, Nigeria Customs Service and NAFDAC must strengthen surveillance and intelligence gathering around suspicious products and consignments.
Border agencies must intensify intelligence-led inspections, while the NDLEA should pursue not only the drugs but also the networks responsible for financing, importing and distributing them. Online platforms should equally do more to prevent criminal networks from using social media to reach young people.
Nigeria cannot afford to wait until children begin turning up in hospitals after consuming drug-laced sweets before it takes this threat seriously. The country has spent years fighting drug abuse among young people. It must now confront a more deceptive form of the problem: bringing the drugs to children disguised as something they already trust.
Protecting children from hard drugs requires more than occasional warnings. It requires sustained vigilance from parents, stronger regulation, better public education and decisive action from law-enforcement agencies.
The traffickers are changing their methods. Nigeria must move faster than they do.
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