Say No To Drugs | A Touching True Life Story Of Kalio Sotonye 

–Kalio Sotonye | Anti Drug Abuse Crusader

I once knew a young man who had the best things life could offer, this young man was born into a decent and comfortable home and family, he had a good primary education and was taken to a wonderful secondary school and it was in this school he began to develop some very terrible habits that almost cost him his life. This young man out of curiosity that was influenced by the friends he kept began smoking marijuana when he was in SS2 and was just 15 years old this was in 2002. He hung out with boys who always smoked and talked about how good they felt when they did it and how bold it made them so one day he decided to give it a try and that was the beginning of a dangerous journey for him. He was fortunate to get admitted into the university immediately he graduated from secondary school in 2003 and because he thought he had finally found the freedom he had long been looking for he began to explore carelessly and lost focus of the purpose for which he was in the university even from his first year; he was naive and silly.

He started trying out all kinds of drugs and substances and even joined a cult in his supposed 200 level. This young man became addicted to drugs and eventually dropped out that that university. He went back home but instead of him to cool his heels and think of a way forward he took to the streets and began living like a hoodlum. Addiction and cultism got the better of him and although he had a home and house he stayed and slept anywhere and everywhere he could find (in not yet completed buildings, in the ghettos). This young man began to lose hope in life and thought he couldn’t become useful to himself, his family and society but God had other plans. Sometime in 2008, he was forcefully taken to a rehab center and was really pissed about it, he was there for 6 months and one week after he was released he hit the streets again and suffered a major relapse.

He gained admission back another university in 2009 and he thought to himself that things would be different and he would focus on the purpose why he was in school but things took a turn for the worse as he got deeper into drugs and cultism He did all he could do to feed his addiction as his family had stopped giving him allowance a long time ago. He engaged some aspects of crime just to feed his addiction. He was also fully active in cult activities. Slowly but surely he began to get tired of being an addict, he began to ask God to help him as he no longer had a reason to live anymore but for drugs. In February 2012 he was taken back to the rehab center but this time was willing to give it a try. He was there for 6 months and a week and on the 4th of September 2012 he was released and was immediately taken to Lagos the very next day as he lived with his family in port harcourt.

On the 9th of September 2012, he began another rehabilitation program at a center called Christ Against Drug Abuse Ministry (CADAM) and that was were his transformation began. On the 10th of December 2012, he accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and began to live for him alone. While at the rehab life began to make sense to him again as he finally discovered purpose and realized that he had the very life of God inside of him. The scourge of addiction was finally lifted and he was finally free even from cultism. His family fully accepted him back after his one year rehabilitation program and were so delighted that God had restored him. He eventually went to a bible college and gained admission back to the university in October 2014 where he obtained his first degree 15 years after he first gained admission. He graduated from the university in 2018 and he now works as a drug abuse and addiction treatment officer in Christ Against Drug Abuse Ministry where he helps others who find themselves in the situation he was once in. He’s also a die hard lover of God and loves to tell people about the Christ. If God could help this young man get out of this, He can help you too.

My name is Kalio Sotonye and this is my story.