Canadian lady arrested with drugs at Lagos airport as NDLEA intercepts N9b worth opioids in Rivers

By: Michael Mike

A 41-year-old Canadian lady, Adrienne Munju has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos for importing large consignment of ‘Canadian Loud’, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis into Nigeria.

The suspect was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on KLM airline flight from Canada at the terminal 1 of the Lagos airport last Thursday.

During a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne who was coming to Nigeria for the first time was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.2 kilogrammes stuffed in two of her three bags.

In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars, which was to be paid upon successful delivery in Lagos.

She confessed the offer was taken because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.

In another arrest, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports, Onne, Rivers state intercepted 13,298,000 pills of opioids including Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol as well as 338, 253 bottles of codeine based cough syrup, all worth over
N9 billion in street value.

The spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said the opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs and other port stakeholders last Wednesday and Thursday.

Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos last Thursday intercepted 100 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 50 kilogrammes. The consignment was packed in 20 parcels each in five jumbo bags concealed in a container with four units of imported vehicles that came from Canada.

Babafemi said though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu but based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus.

He added that a suspect, Abubakar Ibrahim has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.

In Taraba, NDLEA officers last Thursday intercepted a commercial bus marked JAL 198 YQ coming from Onitsha, Anambra state to Jalingo. Large quantities of opioids: tramadol, rohypnol and codeine-based syrup concealed in body compartments of the vehicle were recovered when it was searched, while two suspects: Pako Thomas and Emmanuel Anyigor were arrested.

Also in Taraba, another suspect, Chibuzor Okafor was arrested at Wukari last Wednesday with 80 blocks of cannabis weighing 38 kilogrammes hidden in bags of garri.

In Lagos, a suspect Bolanle Ajenifuja was last Friday arrested at Afo – Media area of Ojo where 700 litres of skuchies, a mixture of local chapman and cocktail of illicit drugs were recovered from her, while three suspects: Ezekiel Akpele; Elijah Michael; and Goddard John, were nabbed same day when NDLEA operatives raided two cannabis farms located at bridge camp, a boundary community between Edo and Ondo states. Not less than 9,966.3 kilogrammes of the substance was destroyed on over three hectares of farmland with 48 kilogrammes of the already processed psychoactive substance recovered.

Babafemi said with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen.Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of MMIA, Tincan, PHPC, Lagos, Edo, and Taraba commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures, stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.

Canadian lady arrested with drugs at Lagos airport as NDLEA intercepts N9b worth opioids in Rivers

By: Michael Mike

A call has been made for the reshaping of the political landscape in Nigeria and the entire Africa continent to allow future leaders superior supportive environment to acquire the knowledge of governance.

The call was made by former minister of education, Obiageli Ezekwesili at the 2024 Africa Conference hosted by the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG) in Abuja.

Ezekwesili who is also the Founder, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, speaking at the conference with the theme: “Good Governance In Africa: Leaders and Citizens Driving Systemic Change,” said the forum was put in place to change and upgrade the mindsets of future leaders in Africa.

She noted that: “When governance whether at the local level, state or national level in your countries, you don’t govern for the population that you immediately see, you govern for Africa. We want you to immediately have that mindset of the Africa solution that will be exponential in impact as well as as interconnected.

“Academic research findings show clearly that Africa’s development challenge is primarily because of the absence of good governance, and if research gives you evidence of what your malady is or the cause of your malady, what you must do as a sensible group of people is to address your malady.

“So, since poor governance is our malady as a people, as a continent, the research that I did then gives me an insight into how to address the malady. And the critical part of it is to begin the development of an entirely new political mindset and culture,” she added.

The Keynote Speaker Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings called for more involvement of women and youth in politics, decision making and governance in Africa.

She said the time for sitting on the fence is over, stating that: “People who felt that they have something to offer their countries must also consider that grassroot does not mean illiterate, grassroot does not mean not knowledgeable, that is the foundation of everything. And if you feel that you are too big to be at the grassroot level, that is what you will see at the end when other people you feel are not as enlightened as you are will decide who you subsequently have to choose as your leader because you have decided not to take part at the grassroot level of the primary choice of who your leaders should be.”

The Chief Executive Officer, School of Politics, Policy and Governance, Alero Ayida-Otobo said the barrier of development is absence of good governance, as such there was need to develop entire new political architecture that will bring in productive leaders.

She said: “The weight of this single mandate is enormous and us on every single one of you because you came and you are hearing this, you are now going to be held accountable to deliver the future.

“Many times, those that are value-driven, those that are disruptive in their thinking, they feel alone and they feel there is no body around them. What we want to do is to build a platform that they can stand on, then connect them.”

The 2024 Africa Conference, a prelude to the graduation ceremony of the fourth graduates of the School of Politics, Policy and Governance brought together value-oriented politicians from Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe among other African countries to brainstorm on how to reposition the continent’s politics and governance.

Ezekwesili, Rawlings, Others Call For Reshaping of Africa’s Political Landscape to Build Future Political Leaders

Maiduguri: Zulum assesses roads, bridges destroyed by flood

By: Michael Mike

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Thursday, conducted an assessment of some vital infrastructure including roads, bridges and hospitals damaged by the flood disaster that struck Maiduguri Metropolis and the surrounding local government areas.

The devastating September 10 flood, described as the worst seen in Maiduguri in over three decades, has caused damages, isolated communities and hindered the movement of essential goods.

The governor’s assessment includes visits to key areas such as Gwange maternity, road networks and Fori, Moro-Moro and Gwange bridges.

Zulum, while lamenting the destruction caused by the flooding pointed out that the houses built on the river banks obstructed the passage of water from river Ngada.

He said, “the quantum of the destruction was enormous, you can see we had just visited one place. It is very unfortunate that some people choose to build houses right inside the waterways which obstructed the water passage. Otherwise, the water could have passed onto the lowland without affecting the main city.Maiduguri: Zulum assesses roads, bridges destroyed by flood

Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, on Thursday, conducted an assessment of some vital infrastructure including roads, bridges and hospitals damaged by the flood disaster that struck Maiduguri Metropolis and the surrounding local government areas.

The devastating September 10 flood, described as the worst seen in Maiduguri in over three decades, has caused damages, isolated communities and hindered the movement of essential goods.

The governor’s assessment includes visits to key areas such as Gwange maternity, road networks and Fori, Moro-Moro and Gwange bridges.

Zulum, while lamenting the destruction caused by the flooding pointed out that the houses built on the river banks obstructed the passage of water from river Ngada.

He said, “the quantum of the destruction was enormous, you can see we had just visited one place. It is very unfortunate that some people choose to build houses right inside the waterways which obstructed the water passage. Otherwise, the water could have passed onto the lowland without affecting the main city.

Maiduguri: Zulum assesses roads, bridges destroyed by flood