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Hong Kong, France, Oman-bound traffickers arrested at Abuja, Lagos airports with illicit drugs

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Hong Kong, France, Oman-bound traffickers arrested at Abuja, Lagos airports with illicit drugs

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two businessmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja with consignments of cocaine and heroin going to Hong Kong and France concealed in their bellies.

A statement on Sunday by spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi read that while 38-year-old ThankGod Emenike was arrested at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Friday 20th October during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France flight 818 to Paris, another passenger, 41-year-old Agbo Chidike was taken into NDLEA custody on Saturday 21st October while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 950 to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa.

He said they were both arrested and detained after their body scan revealed they ingested illicit drugs, adding that after days in custody and a number of excretions, Emenike excreted 72 wraps of heroin weighing 1.171 kilogrammes, while Chidike discharged 49 pellets of cocaine with a total weight of 998.53 grammes.

Babafemi said in his statement, Chidike claimed he is a businessman dealing in spare parts at the Alaba International market in Ojo area of Lagos, even as he added that he was to be paid N3.5 million which he intended to use to import goods from Hong Kong.

The spokesman also revealed that NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos last Wednesday intercepted a Qatar Airways flight passenger going to Oman, Agbo Tochukwu with a consignment of 58 parcels of skunk weighing 29.1 kilogrammes while undergoing processes to board his flight at the Terminal 11 of the airport. Tochukwu, in his statement was said to have claimed he relocated to Oman on 6th May and has been working as hotel attendant there before venturing into drug trafficking.

Babafemi equally disclosed that a total of 2,197 kilogrammes of skunk were recovered in four interdiction operations in parts of Ondo state within four days. He said while 1,165.5 kilogrammes were seized in Uso, Owo local government area last Wednesday, a consignment of 691 kilogrammes were recovered from Ukugu forest in Ipele the previous day, Tuesday . He said a suspect, Ifeanyi Abuguja, 32, was arrested with 87 kilogrammes of same substance last Monday at Agula Road, Ogbese, Akure North local government area, while 253.5 kilogrammes were recovered at Ogbese market in Akure North local government area last Thursday.

In Oyo state, two suspects: Ayo Dele, 19, and Olaitan Ahmed, 23, were arrested with 160 grammes of cannabis at a drug joint at Nalende area of Ibadan metropolis on Sunday 22nd October while a follow up operation at their warehouse in the same area led to the recovery of 332 kilogrammes of the same substance.

He said operatives of the Lagos Command of the agency intercepted and recovered a vehicle loaded with 209 kilogrammes of Loud at Okun Ajah area of the state last Monday, their counterparts in Gombe last Saturday recovered an abandoned consignment of 401 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 392 kilogrammes and 21,000 capsules of tramadol at Tumfure area of the state.

In the early hours of today Sunday (yesterday), NDLEA operatives in Edo state stormed the Utese forest in Ovia North East local government area where they evacuated a total of 2,931.3 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa from a warehouse in the forest.

The spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign of the agency continued in equal measure in schools, markets, worship places and others across the country in the past week. He noted that some of them include: WADA town hall sensitization lecture by Zone E command in collaboration with Kano and Jigawa commands of the agency for 108 principals of secondary schools in Dutse Emirate; same lecture for students and teachers of Nkpoghoro community secondary school, Afikpo, Ebonyi state; students and teachers of Government Secondary School and Community Comprehensive School, both in Abua/Odual local government area, Rivers state as well as WADA sensitisation lecture at Durbar Grammar School, Durbar, Oyo state.

Meanwhile, while commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, Ondo, Oyo, Lagos, Edo and Gombe Commands for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) urged them and their compatriots across all formations of the agency to maintain the offensive action tempo and strive to surpass previous records while maintaining a balance with their drug demand reduction efforts.

Hong Kong, France, Oman-bound traffickers arrested at Abuja, Lagos airports with illicit drugs

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF), under the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK), conducted a successful Air Interdiction (AI) mission at a terrorists’ hideout in the Southern Tumbuns general area in the Lake Chad of Borno, killing scores of the terrorists.

Intelligent sources told Zagazola Makama that the precision air strike, which took place at about 2100 hours on 5 May 2025, targeted a major terrorists’ concentration camp located in the Tumbuma Baba axis of Lake Chad.

The sources said that the offensive was in continuation of a decisive Operation KALACHEN WUTA II, aimed at denying terrorists the freedom to execute large-scale attacks during the Eid el-Kabir period.

The sources said that Intelligence and Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) reports confirmed that several terrorists were neutralised during the strike, and key logistics under heavy foliage were destroyed.

The sources said that the strikes followed credible intelligence on planned coordinated attacks by the insurgents before, during, and after the Eid festivities. The mission was meticulously planned and executed to forestall such threats and sustain pressure on terrorist elements operating in the Lake Chad fringes.

“We observed significant secondary explosions, indicating the presence of arms and fuel storage. Multiple terrorists were seen fleeing the area, while several others were eliminated during the strike,” the source said.

The sources said efforts are ongoing to gather further feedback, as well as to assess the operational impact of the interdiction.

He added that preliminary signs suggest a high level of disarray and panic within the terrorists’ ranks, with reports of attempted regrouping under surveillance.

Airstrike Hits ISWAP Enclave in Tumbuma Baba, scores Nutrialised

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

By: Zagazola Makama

The Nigerian Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have executed a coordinated strike on a major terrorist enclave located at Maisani in the Timbuktu Triangle general area of Borno State, killing several ISWAP terrorists.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that the air interdiction mission conducted on May 4, 2025, at approximately 1800 hours, was informed by credible intelligence and sustained surveillance, targeted terrorists’ structures cleverly concealed and camouflaged under thick shrubs in the area.

The sources said that using advanced platforms, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) conducted a focused Air Interdiction (AI) mission, resulting in the destruction of the identified enemy hideouts and the neutralisation of an unconfirmed number of insurgent fighters.

According to the sources, Post-strike Battle Damage Assessment (BDA) obtained from our Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platforms confirmed that the airstrike achieved its intended objectives, dealing a significant blow to terrorists.

Nigerian Air Force Neutralises Terrorists in Successful Air Interdiction at Maisani

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

By: Michael Mike

As the world marks the 2025 Environment Day, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has appealed to the World Bank for support on capacity building, data and in addressing the challenges poised by Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) in the country.

Head of Department, National Accounts Energy and Environment at the NBS, Dr. Baba Madu made the appeal at the 2025 Natural Capital Accounting (NCA) Conference on Thursday in Abuja with support from the World Bank in. collaboration with the NBS and the Federal Ministry of Environment.

Madu while noting that the NCA was a new area Nigeria must exploit to further boost the nation’s economy, said for Nigeria to grow and be at par with other developed nations, there was need to account for her natural resources.

He said: “NCA has been tasked with the crucial role of integrating natural capital into economic measurement. It is impossible to measure the economy accurately without accounting for natural resources. Issues such as environmental degradation, afforestation, desertification, and climate change all directly impact productivity.

“Productivity in turn, influences output—one of the core components of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). These environmental factors must be reflected across all economic activity sectors to present a more accurate picture of national output.”

While stating that Nigeria currently has data on NCA in Nigeria, the NBS official however raised concerns over the huge data gap from relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the environment sector.

He said: “We are not doing badly but we need to improve on what we are doing. In terms of data sources, I can tell you there’s a big gap because these are new areas needed to be exploited.”

Programme Leader on Sustainable Development at the World Bank, Vina Vutukuru, said there was need to jointly
explore the vital role of national accounting in national development plans and to brainstorm on how Nigeria could institutionalize it.

He said: “Establishing the national capital accounting as part of the national account system will allow us to measure the economic value of ecosystem services such as clean air, water and biodiversity which are essential for our well-being and economic prosperity.”

Vutukuru commended Nigeria for having “very bold ambitions” as far as responding to climate change was concerned saying, “That shows the commitment of the policy makers here towards the issue of climate.

“But I think to back up that aspiration and the aggressive goals that Nigeria has set for itself, the foundational thing for those goals to materialize those objectives to come true is a very strong natural account system.”

Head of Media, National Council on Climate Change Secretariat (NCCCS), Chioma Azie who represented her Director General, Dr. Nkiruka Maduekwe at the event, described Nigeria as a very ambitious country, stressing that natural resources was instrumental to achieving all the objective of climate action.

She said: “Technology, policy reforms, behavioral changes has a role to play but natural resources is very key because they’re underpinning the mitigation and adaptation for climate action.

“If you look at Nigeria’s NDC, the NCA is an avenue to provide raw materials that we could use to develop mitigation and adaptation strategies.

“If you look at what we have done in terms of this NDC in 2020.which is the second leg of the NDC, we identified a lot of mitigation activities within this mentioned sectors of ours. In agricultural sector we talked about smart agriculture. What is smart agriculture without natural resources?

“We talked about biomass, what is biomass without natural resources? We also spoke about land use changes and that is natural resources, we talk about natural solutions and we talked about also afforestation, reafforestation. Those are mitigation potentials of our NDC. So, we cannot achieve our NDC without SEEA.

“What you cannot be able to account for is recorded as if it is not done so if we know what is existing in terms of the reservoirs we have for natural resources, it can inform the scope of the mitigation activities we’re going to be imputing in the NDC 3.0,” she said.

Nigeria Looks to World Bank to Tackle Challenges of National Capital Accounting

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