Nigerian author, Reno Omokri has beckoned on the President, Muhammadu Buhari to place a ban on Sniper which many have seen as a substance poisonous enough for suicide.
In his post, he called on the president to address the nation which is currently experiencing an alarming rate of suicide.
He tweeted:
Dear President @MBuhari,
SUICIDE is at epidemic levels. I urge you to set up a National Suicide Prevention Team. Ban sales of SNIPER and similar substances. But most importantly, address the nation and give hope to the hopeless. God bless you.
A Twitter user argued that the problem behind suicide is not the insecticide called Sniper and so should not be banned. In reaction, Reno Omokri wrote:
Nigerians argue anyhow. Who has said sniper is the problem? It is one of the challenges. We can’t do anything about all of them, but at least we can regulate pharmaceutical poisons. Anyway, reasoning with a lot of Nigerians (not all) can be very frustrating. We deserve our lot.
He added:
Many Nigerians don’t understand how the banning pharmaceuticals work. In advanced nations, substances, like sniper, are regulated. Before you can buy them, you need a certificate or a prescription. We need this. These substances shouldn’t just be available for sale to just anyone
