From Yemen’s Khat Fields to Nigeria’s Gold Mines, Dehumanisation Fuels a Shared Drug Crisis

A social media post about Yemen’s khat addiction has sparked a conversation about how drug abuse is used to dehumanise entire populations, and the same pattern is playing out in Nigeria’s illegal mining communities.

The original tweet said that roughly 80 percent of Yemen’s male population is addicted to khat, a narcotic leaf chewed daily across the country. A reply to that tweet warned that this kind of portrayal is dangerous. It argued that the first step in generating support for war and genocide is to dehumanise a population. The reply pointed to how Israelis have portrayed Palestinians, how Americans portrayed Afghans and Iraqis, and now how Yemenis are being painted as drug addicts so that no one feels sympathy when they are attacked.

The first step in generating consent to war and genocide is to dehumanise a population. Israelis did it with Palestinians, Americans did it with Afghans and Iraqis and now they are trying to portray Yemenis as no good druggies so no one feels bad when they massacre them https://t.co/7Y0Hm2b9zx

— 🍁 Guywithlibrary (retired) (@guywithlibrary) September 21, 2026

That warning is not just about Yemen. It applies to Nigeria as well, where a deadly combination of drug abuse and illegal mining is destroying communities and fueling violence.

Nigeria’s drug problem is enormous. According to the United Nations and the National Bureau of Statistics, about 14.3 million Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 64 used illicit drugs in a single year. That is 14.4 percent of the population, nearly three times the global average. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has arrested over 77,000 drug offenders and seized about 14.8 million kilograms of illicit drugs between 2020 and 2025. Cannabis is the most commonly abused substance, with over 10 million users, followed by prescription opioids like tramadol and codeine. New and deadly drugs like methamphetamine, locally called mkpuru mmiri, and dangerous mixtures like gutter water, a cocktail of tramadol, cannabis, codeine and vodka, have made the crisis worse.

The link between this drug crisis and illegal mining is direct. A 2026 investigation in Niger State found that drug abuse, illegal mining and youth gang violence feed each other. The state’s NDLEA commander said the three go hand in hand. When young people are high on drugs, it leads to gang fighting, even at mining sites.

The reasons are both economic and physical. Mining is hard, informal labour. To endure the work, many miners use painkillers like tramadol and codeine. Over time, they build tolerance and move on to stronger drugs like heroin. A report by the International Centre for Investigative Reporting found that this pattern is widespread. Tapentadol, an opioid stronger than tramadol, is used by labourers, motorbike riders and miners across West Africa to cope with physical work.

The consequences for communities are severe. In Plateau State, the government has linked illegal mining to child labour, drug trafficking, the spread of arms and a rise in out-of-school children. In one community, a village head said more than 400 pupils had stopped going to school because of mining activities. Girls turned to selling food or prostitution. The NDLEA has also intercepted drugs meant for illegal miners, including cannabis being supplied to miners in Kano State.

The narrative being pushed about Yemen, that its people are simply drug addicts and therefore do not deserve sympathy, is the same narrative being used in Nigeria. By focusing only on the drug abuse in mining communities, the real problems are ignored. The real drivers are unemployment, poverty and the absence of government in remote, resource-rich areas. These are the conditions that make communities easy to label as criminal and disposable.

The tweet’s warning is clear. When a population is reduced to a stereotype, whether as khat chewers or drug-crazed miners, it becomes easier to justify violence against them. It becomes easier to ignore their suffering. And it becomes easier to treat them as a problem to be eliminated rather than a people to be protected.

Nigeria must not fall into that trap. The drug crisis and the illegal mining crisis are serious. But they are symptoms of deeper failures. Until the government addresses poverty, unemployment and the lack of opportunity that push young people into both mining and drugs, the cycle will continue. And the dehumanisation of these communities will only make it worse.

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