Jeremiah ‘Spokesman’ Aluwong, LightWK's head of mission (seated in the middle), with residents of the Light Center. Photo by LightWK mission, used with permission.

Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) states that 14.3 million Nigerians suffer from substance abuse disorder, and one in every four drug users is a woman. Tragically, each year, the West African country records 2.5 million drug-related deaths. Projections show that by 2030, there will be a 40 percent increase in the use of psychoactive drugs in Africa. 

In an effort to curb this widespread problem, the Light Center, a free residential faith-based recovery and skill center run by LightWK mission in Kaduna, Nigeria, provides support for substance users, dealers, and others by offering a range of care services focused on recovery, redemption, and restoration. 

“We believe that true lasting transformation happens when the heart is changed. Addiction is a symptom of something else, and that's the reason why many rehabilitation centers fail — because they try to deal with the substance, but that's not the issue. There's a root cause,” Jeremiah Aluwong, LightWK's head of mission, told Global Voices during an in-person interview.

Mishael Sambo, 25, is a resident at the Light Center. He has lost count of the number of times he has been arrested. “I got used to handcuffs as a teenager. I've been arrested a lot of times by the police and drug law enforcement officials. My parents aren't aware, though. There's just always a way I come out of it,” he confessed while speaking to Global Voices.

Mishael Sambo. Photo by LightWK mission, used with permission.

Sambo, who once studied film and TV production at NTA College in Jos, struggled to cope with his studies when his drug habit escalated from the pain medication tramadol to crack cocaine. He recalls, “A senior in my boarding secondary school suggested tramadol to help with my sleeping problems. Then I started abusing it, but an ex-girlfriend later introduced me to crack cocaine. That was when I started selling my stuff, indulging in crime, and using my belongings as collateral.”

After repeatedly wasting the transport money his family sent for his return to his hometown of Kaduna, Sambo stayed in Jos until he accumulated a heavy debt with a cocaine dealer who threatened to kill him. That’s when he finally fled back home.

“I told my parents I needed help, needed rehab, but nobody paid attention to me, and I got worse: Stealing, lying to my parents until they kicked me out.”

He added, “I went back to the streets. That was the only place I knew. Getting high in the jungle (a drug den) till things got out of hand. I had no money, no change of clothes. So I decided to go home. They opened the gate for me, which I didn't expect would happen so easily. They told me about this recovery center. I applied, was evaluated and accepted.”

Asked about the correlation between substance abuse and crime, the director general of Kaduna State Bureau for Substance Abuse, Prevention and Treatment (KADBUSA), Joseph O. Ike, told Global Voices, “The key players are typically young people in their most productive stages of life. Drug abuse worsens criminality, insecurity and other negative social indices in communities where it is prevalent.”

A musical method to the madness 

When Jeremiah “Spokesman” Aluwong, a Christian rapper turned pastor, started evangelizing in “jungles,” little did he know his mission would include a residential recovery center. In a bid to create a systematic way to mentor young people while utilizing his gift of artistry, LightWK's mission was born.

Jeremiah ‘Spokesman’ Aluwong. Photo by LightWK mission, used with permission.

“We started going to jungles in Kaduna to rap and preach the gospel. Over a thousand boys gathered in one night. They loved seeing us there: Pastors in sleeveless shirts and face caps [baseball hats], not collars. We were all lyrical, and they were all happy. During COVID, I was always in jungles interacting with these boys, taking sanitary supplies [face masks and sanitisers] to them. The government wasn't going there. Nobody really cared. They had dreadlocks, baby mamas. Churches didn't like them. They were ostracized. I became their pastor. When they are arrested, I bail them out.” 

One of Kaduna's most notorious drug dens, “Black Street,” became one out of 154 jungles where LightWK evangelized every Friday and Saturday, but they didn't just stop at rapping and preaching. 

“I don't think it's enough to just go preach. I believe in discipleship evangelism. I believe people should be grounded and rooted.” 

At an event in Gombe State, some parents approached Aluwong soliciting help for their children who were abusing substances, but he did not have a place to keep them.

The beginning of the Light Centre

The Light Centre was created in 2021. “If we were going to help people from outside this city, we needed a place to keep them. We decided to run it for free because most of them from the streets cannot afford recovery,” Aluwong revealed.

Adopting a biopsychosocial-spiritual model, the Light Center offers skill courses, Christian theological classes, and personal development workshops. 

“Everything here revolves around the CART (Christ-centric approach to recovery therapy). Addicts are captives of a lifestyle, but the gospel delivers them, and we've seen that happen over and over,” Aluwong explained as he quoted scripture. 

Some studies suggest that religion and spiritual faith can help in preventing and recovering from substance abuse, largely because of the social support and a strong community that can emerge in faith-based spaces. While acknowledging that medicines and psychological interventions are important for rescue and recovery, the studies concluded they are not enough. 

Turning a new leaf

The Light Center has graduated 251 men and women, since its inception. James Pirmah, 29, is one of them. He told Global Voices that the most difficult part of his recovery from polysubstance use was coping with withdrawal symptoms. After completing 14 weeks of in-house recovery and a one-month evaluation break where he was exposed to his triggers and temptations, he realized what was missing in his life all along — a deeper understanding of God. “Actually, if I knew Christ before, I don't think I would have gone that far,” he said.

Pirmah, who holds a diploma in computer science, is now studying an online course in data analytics and working towards returning to school to pursue a higher degree. Like him, many others who successfully stayed at the Light Center have turned a new leaf and now belong to a new community.

James Primah. Photo by LightWK mission, used with permission.

According to Aluwong, 95 percent of the Light Center’s former residents have progressed positively, as some are now gainfully employed, and others have returned to school. “Our approach is not sobriety. It is community and responsibility. We want them to take responsibility; that's why they are free to talk about their journey. Even when they leave, this is family for them. I see all their potential and what they can become. I just want to see them win; that gives me joy. If I had all the money in the world, I'd give everything to support. We still help some of them financially after recovery because their families have given up on them.”

When Global Voices visited the center, there were no female residents present at that time.

The center operates free of charge, but Aluwong disclosed that the average cost of recovery per person is 1.6 million naira (about USD 1,000). Only 10 people are admitted per session:

“The center has been self-funded with no grants whatsoever. Another reason we do recovery for free is because when they come here without paying a dime, they are not only humbled, but they realize we are doing this out of genuine love.”