By Fatou Sillah
The leader of the National Alliance for Accelerated Advancement, Ousainou Allen, has expressed concern over what he describes as a rising crime rate in the country, attributing the trend to increasing drug use among young people.
Speaking in an interview with West Coast Radio, Mr. Allen said he believes the two issues are closely connected and are contributing to growing public unease.
“The reason why we are saying crime is on the rise is because the use of drugs is on the rise, and the consequence of that use is usually crime,” he said. “And you speak to people, and people are feeling more unsafe out there.”
Mr. Allen said drug consumption among youths has become increasingly visible in communities and is, in his view, feeding a broader sense of insecurity.
“It’s a normal occurrence among youths; you see them in the corners there, preoccupied with smoking,” he said.
He called for a stronger focus on prevention through mentorship and sustained community engagement, arguing that such efforts could help steer young people away from drug use and criminal activity.
“If we are more proactive in our engagement with the youths, engaging them, mentoring them, and advising them,” he said. “We need to look out in our communities for each other and be very vigilant about crime.”
Mr. Allen also suggested that the apparent rise in reported crime may reflect changes in reporting practices rather than a wholly new phenomenon, pointing to earlier periods when, he said, incidents may have been less publicly documented.
“Be very vigilant about crime because from what we see in terms of interventions in terms of reports from the police, unless we are living in an age where crime was suppressed during the earlier regime because of probably fear of publication,” he said.
Comments are closed.