RismadarVoice Reporters
May 9, 2026
A pharmacist in Jos, Plateau State, has recounted a harrowing encounter with a 27-year-old woman allegedly addicted to Pentazocine, a powerful opioid painkiller, warning that prolonged abuse of the drug is destroying lives, pushing users toward severe health complications.
The pharmacist, Aliyu Naziru Officer, shared the experience in a post that has since sparked concern over rising substance abuse among young people.
According to him, the woman visited his pharmacy early in the morning, pleading with him to administer an injection of Pentazocine after she was reportedly unable to locate a usable vein on her body.
“Since I was born, I swear I have never seen a disaster like today,” he wrote. “Last week I wrote about the dangers of Pentazocine that men and women inject to get high. This morning, right after I opened my shop, this young lady came to me, begging me to inject her.”
The officer said he initially engaged the woman in conversation instead of turning her away immediately. He paid off the commercial motorcyclist who brought her and sent him away while he tried to understand the extent of her condition.
“She told me: ‘Wallahi, if you look at me, I’ve spent 12 years injecting myself with Pentazocine,’”. “I went silent, staring at her in shock, almost in tears.”
The pharmacist revealed that the woman claimed she had been abusing the drug since the age of 15. According to him, years of repeated injections had severely damaged her veins.
“What shocked me was: from her arms to her legs, there’s nowhere she hasn’t injected Pentazocine. Her whole body has no veins anymore they’re all hardened and damaged,” he said.
He further alleged that the woman had resorted to injecting the drug into sensitive parts of her body, including her forehead, thighs and breasts, in desperate attempts to sustain the addiction.
“She said she was directed to me because I can find tiny veins,” he added. “She only came because she couldn’t find a vein herself anymore.”
The officer warned that Pentazocine abuse poses serious health risks, particularly respiratory depression, which can lead to breathing difficulties, organ damage and premature death.
“It destroys a person’s breathing, which causes early death, kidney and liver damage, and other problems,” he said.
He, however, clarified that he refused to administer the injection.
“I didn’t inject her. I told her I couldn’t see any veins, so she left,” he stated.
