Connect with us

Crime

Abba Kyari’s arrest a clear message of NDLEA’s commitment- Marwa

Published

on

Abba Kyari’s arrest a clear message of NDLEA’s commitment- Marwa

Abba Kyari’s arrest a clear message of NDLEA’s commitment- Marwa

By: Michael Mike

The Chairman/Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen Buba Marwa (retd), has said the arrest of the suspended Commander of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT), DCP Abba Kyari, is a clear message that no one would be spared in the agency’s ongoing war against illicit drug business.

Marwa said this on Wednesday in an address in Abuja during a training on Sensitization on Drugs and Drug Prevention, Treatment and Care (DPTC) organized by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for NLDEA personnel and selected journalists.

He said that the system cannot allow those given the responsibility to fight crime, which includes the matter of drugs to themselves be proponents of it.

The anti-narcotics czar said the fight against drug abuse is serious business and the agency is committed to pursuing a drug free nation.

Also Read: NNPC begin 24-hour distribution as fuel scarcity stretches…

He said: “The media has a very important role to play in our society. The business of getting information out needs to be accurate and professionally done especially in the business of drug control, drug abuse, trafficking, there are technicalities that you need to get sufficient knowledge of the terrain so that when you get the word out, it is gotten out accurately because you mould the opinions of millions. It is for this reason that I urge the journalists to please take this training seriously and take full advantage of it. 

“While we are at it there is an ongoing play which we are witnessing and I have followed the role of the media even in it. It is a serious business that is ongoing. We all are responsible. We want a drug free nation. We may not get to zero level, but definitely there is a certain minimum acceptability standard that we are all pursuing. And those given the responsibility to fight crime which includes the matter of drugs cannot themselves be proponents of it. This message I believe we have sent abundantly clear.”

Responding, Country Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Oliver Stolpe, said more is still required to be done in the fight against drug abuse.

He said, “I think there is still more to be done because I still believe that most Nigerians perceive drug use as more of a failure of some sorts of basically those people that are using drugs.

“It has not yet been fully appreciated

 that drug use is a health condition first and foremost and it is a health condition that affects this nation much more severely than I think there is a true awareness of. 

“Just to give you an idea. HIV/AIDS that USAID and international development partners have spent billions to fight to put under control affects 1.9 million Nigerians as we speak. COVID-19 affects roughly half a million people.

“The drug use epidemic in terms of pure use affects around 40 million Nigerians as we speak, and around 3 million are affected with what we would refer to as a drug use disorder. It means they would require medical intervention to stop using drugs. So this is a higher number than HIV/AIDS or COVID-19 and yet I think in terms of what is being put towards addressing this issue, it falls significantly short of other efforts.”

Stolpe added: “That is not to say other efforts are less important. It is just to say you need to understand where your public health priorities stand, where they are and how much resources are you putting against them to address them. So it is really critical and that is the message that I hope you will continue to help us to spread.”

Abba Kyari’s arrest a clear message of NDLEA’s commitment- Marwa

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Crime

Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

Published

on

Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

By:Michael Mike

No fewer than 66 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, packaged as green tea have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos.

According to the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, the seizure made last Thursday was based on credible intelligence received ahead of the arrival of the consignment at the cargo wing of the airport on 11th May.

Babafemi, in the statement issued on Sunday, disclosed that the NDLEA had watch-listed the shipment, and sustained surveillance around it for over three weeks before inviting other stakeholders for a joint examination last Thursday.

He said the Loud consignment weighing 62.2 kilogrammes was concealed inside wraps of green tea that came from Thailand via UAE on an Emirate Airlines flight.

Babafemi said in another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives last Monday intercepted a consignment of 1,665 kilogrammes skunk, a strain of cannabis, along Lekki-Ajah expressway. Two suspects: Gidado Ayinde and Obanla Oluwafemi were promptly arrested in connection with the seizure.

In Kaduna, operatives of the state command of NDLEA on patrol along Abuja – Kaduna expressway last Tuesday arrested 29-year-old Goodluck Nnaemeka with 612 bottles of codeine-based syrup and 2,970 pills of flunitrazepam. In another operation same day, a 52-year-old wanted drug dealer Kabiru Musa (a.k.a KB) was arrested at Kurmin Mashi. A total of 25.7 kilogrammes skunk was earlier recovered from his base.
While a total of 9 kilogrammes Loud was recovered from the spare tyre compartment of an Audi station wagon car marked AAA 975 XU driven by Atari Israel, 45, along Auchi road, Edo state, two young women: Favour Joy and Joy Igwe were last Tuesday nabbed at Ikpoba hill area of Benin city. Recovered from them include: 106.57 kilogrammes skunk; 1 kilogramme Loud; 800 grammes Colorado and 302 grammes of methamphetamine.

Babafemi said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country 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, Lagos, Kaduna, and Edo commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

Illicit drug consignment packaged as green tea intercepted at Lagos airport

Continue Reading

Crime

Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

Published

on

Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

By: Zagazola Makama

A 27-year-old man, Ismail Ahmed, has died after being trapped in an abandoned mining pit in Pangu Village, Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.

Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident happened on Saturday, June 7, during a heavy downpour while Ahmed was washing clothes by a nearby stream.

According to family members, he sought shelter from the rain by entering the old mining hole dug by former gold miners. The soil collapsed due to the heavy rain, trapping him inside.

Community members rescued him and rushed him to Kwali General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

The family declined an autopsy and opted for burial according to Islamic rites.

Local residents have been advised to exercise caution and avoid unsafe locations, particularly during the rainy season, to prevent similar tragedies.

Young man dies after falling into abandoned mining pit in FCT

Continue Reading

Crime

Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

Published

on

Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Sector 5 of Operation UDO KA, in a joint operation with operatives of the 63 Brigade and the Department of State Services (DSS), have intercepted a truck loaded with over 164,000 live cartridges allegedly being supplied to the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed affiliate, Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the operation followed credible intelligence which led to the arrest of a suspected arms courier, Mr Emeka Omenife, along the Asaba–Onitsha expressway on 29 May 2025.

According to the sources, Omenife was immediately handed over to the DSS for interrogation. During questioning, he reportedly confessed to being part of a syndicate involved in transporting ammunition from Ghana to Nigeria for IPOB/ESN operatives.

Following his confession, troops arrested his accomplice, Mr Uchenna Obiora, at the Onitsha–Awka tollgate on 30 May 2025, while he was awaiting delivery of the ammunition.The arrest led to the interception of a truck which had the concealed ammunition.

“Upon interception, the vehicle was moved to Onitsha Cantonment, where a thorough search revealed a total of 164,650 live cartridges hidden in four constructed compartments within the cargo bed of the truck,” a source told Zagazola.

The cartridges, believed to have been purchased from Ghana, had Onitsha as their destination, the source added. Further investigations are ongoing to track down other members of the syndicate and their collaborators.

Zagazola also confirmed from security sources that Omenife had earlier been arrested by troops and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) tracking team on Jan. 22 at his residence in Onitsha Housing Estate.

During the January operation, he attempted to flee and was shot in the buttocks before being evacuated to the 302 Army Regiment Medical Services for treatment. He was later handed over to the Anambra State Police Criminal Investigation Department, Annex Akwuzu, for prosecution. His re-arrest in May suggests that he may have returned to the same criminal enterprise following his release in an unexplained circumstances.

Troops intercept truck with over 164,000 cartridges in Anambra, arrest suspected IPOB/ESN arms suppliers

Continue Reading

Trending

Verified by MonsterInsights