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NDLEA arrests 8 over Lagos, Abuja, Enugu airports Cocaine busts

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NDLEA arrests 8 over Lagos, Abuja, Enugu airports Cocaine busts

NDLEA arrests 8 over Lagos, Abuja, Enugu airports Cocaine busts

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested six men and two women over attempts to import hundreds of cocaine pellets into Nigeria and export thousands of tramadol 255mg tablets among other illicit drugs to Europe via the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, and Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

According to the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, the streaks of arrests and seizures began on Sunday 17th July when a 52-year-old father of three, Okwo Okechukwu, was arrested upon his arrival from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia via an Ethiopian airline flight at the Abuja airport for ingesting 76 pellets of cocaine.

Babafemi said during preliminary interrogation, Okechukwu said he was into selling women’s wigs and hair attachment before veering into the drug trade. Okechukwu excreted all the 76 wraps of the drug he swallowed while under observation at the NDLEA’s facility in Abuja.

In the same vein, another father of three, Lawrence Chijioke, 42, was arrested at the Abuja airport same day in an operational synergy between NDLEA and Nigeria Customs Service at the airport, Chijioke, was arrested during an inward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa with 529 pellets of cocaine weighing 11.70 kilogrammes concealed in his bag. 

Chijioke, in his statement to anti-narcotic officers, claimed he was promised N2 million, which he planned to use to boost his business, upon successful delivery of the cocaine consignment in Abuja.

Babafemi said the NDLEA operatives also last Saturday arrested 29-year-old Ms. Onuorah Onyinye at the Enugu airport upon arrival on Ethiopian airline flight from Addis Ababa, during a search of her luggage, it was discovered that 2.192 kilogrammes of cocaine was concealed in two designer’s women handbags with false linings.

Also Read: Kashim Shettima: From the steps of the Senate to power

The spokesman also disclosed that attempts by drug traffickers to export different illicit drugs through the NAHCO export shed at the Lagos airport to Europe and United Arab Emirate were also frustrated by officers and men of the agency. He said operatives on Monday 18th July intercepted some illicit substances concealed in a consolidated cargo going to Dubai, UAE, noting that apart from 24 parcels of Loud, a variant of cannabis, which is largely grown in the United States and Canada, other substances recovered from the cargo include a precursor for methamphetamine, BMK glycidic acid; tablets of designer drug MDMA and another five parcels of cannabis. 

He said no fewer than four freight agents were arrested in connection with the seizure. They include: Balogun Olamilekan; Sulaimon Yetunde; Benjamin Joel; and Omoniyi Abraham.

He disclosed that same day, Monday 18th July, the bid by an Italy-bound passenger Tony Osas to export 10,250 tablets of tramadol 255mg to Europe through the Lagos airport was foiled by NDLEA operatives who intercepted him at Gate B departure hall during outward clearance of passengers on a Turkish airline flight to Milan.

He said during a search of his luggage, Osas was found with the illicit substance that weighed 5.70 kilogrammes concealed inside gari, a local cassava product tucked in his black handbag.

In other clampdown across the country, in Kaduna, a driver Jamilu Lawal, was arrested on Sunday 17th July along Abuja-Kaduna express road, with 157,000 tablets of diazepam weighing 37.5 kilogrammes. A follow up operation same day led to the arrest of the actual owner of the consignment, Abubakar Isiyaku, in Katsina. 

Another suspect, Isah Mohammed, was equally arrested same day in Kano during a follow up operation, after the interception of his consignment, 2,500 kilogrammes rubber solution (solvent) locally called Shalisha in Kaduna.

In Abuja, no fewer than four persons were arrested over 345.4 kilogrammes cannabis seizures in the FCT. While Mohammed Auwal, 37; Godspower John, 34, and Chukwuma Odeh, 35, were arrested in Jabi Park over a 77.7 kilogrammes drug consignment on Monday 18th July.

Isah Yusuf, 25, was nabbed with 267.7 kilogrammes cannabis when operatives raided DeiDei area of the FCT last Saturday

In Sokoto state, operatives on stop and search operation along Gusau-Sokoto road arrested one Tochukwu Oranusi with 20,100 tabs of Rohypnol inside a commercial bus coming from Onitsha, Anambra state. Bottles of Codeine Syrup weighing 15.2 litres and 400grams of Rohypnol tabs whose owner, Buhari Sambo was later arrested, were also recovered from the vehicle.

In Anambra state, a suspect Azubuike Ogbanu was arrested with 76 cups of Arizona, 172 sachets of skunk, 82 pinches of methamphetamine, 20 sachets of Loud, and 10 wraps of Colorado when his base, Loren hostel, Ifite, Awka, was raided by operatives on Thursday 21st July.

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the officers and men of the MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Kaduna, Sokoto, FCT and Anambra Commands for the arrests, seizures and their tenacity, urged them and their colleagues across the country to remain steadfast in pursuit of the agency’s goal of ridding all parts of Nigeria of illicit substances

NDLEA arrests 8 over Lagos, Abuja, Enugu airports Cocaine busts

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2027: Tinubu Deserves Second Term, Says First Lady Oluremi unveils APC women campaign council, orders nationwide mobilisation for ‘total victory

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2027: Tinubu Deserves Second Term, Says First Lady Oluremi unveils APC women campaign council, orders nationwide mobilisation for ‘total victory’

By: Michael Mike

The First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has described her husband as deserving a second term, claiming that President Bola Tinubu administration’s economic reforms are beginning to produce tangible results and deserve the continued support of Nigerians.

Speaking on Monday in Abuja at the inauguration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Women Campaign Council for the 2027 general elections, the First Lady said the government’s economic interventions had moved beyond policy pronouncements to measurable signs of national stabilisation.

She urged APC women across the country to take the message of the administration’s achievements to the grassroots and mobilise Nigerians for what she described as a decisive electoral victory for President Tinubu and all APC candidates in 2027.

The campaign council, inaugurated under the banner “Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity,” is expected to spearhead a nationwide women-led mobilisation drive covering the presidency, governorships, the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.

Mrs. Tinubu said the administration’s economic reforms were beginning to reshape the country’s economic outlook, pointing to declining inflation, growing foreign reserves, increased investor confidence and greater support for farmers.

“Our economy is stabilizing, inflation is coming down, foreign reserves are growing, and investors are returning to Nigeria,” she said.

She also cited the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) initiative, noting that university students could now access interest-free loans to support their education.

According to her, the progress recorded by the administration was not merely political rhetoric but evidence that the country was moving towards economic recovery and prosperity.

“The theme of this year’s rally is not just a slogan; it is our reality,” the First Lady declared.

Describing President Tinubu as a courageous leader prepared to take difficult decisions in the national interest, she appealed to APC women to become the administration’s strongest grassroots communicators ahead of the elections.

She charged members of the newly inaugurated council to move across the country, engage communities and convince voters to support the APC at every level of government.

Mrs. Tinubu also announced a major restructuring of the various women support groups campaigning for the President, saying they had been brought under a single APC campaign structure to ensure unity and discipline.

“We have collapsed every other women support group into one—from Tinubu Again to Torch Bearers and others,” she said.

“What you will see on the ballot box is APC. We are here to promote APC, nothing less.”

The First Lady said the campaign structure would organise six geopolitical zonal mega-rallies, state-level rallies and a grand finale in Abuja as part of an aggressive mobilisation strategy ahead of the 2027 polls.

She disclosed that she would participate in the zonal campaigns alongside the wife of the Vice President, Hajia Nana Shettima, and other senior party leaders.

At the state level, she said the mobilisation would be driven by the wife of the Senate President, the wife of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Chairperson of the Nigeria Governors’ Spouses Forum.

Earlier, the APC National Women Leader, Dr. Mary Alile Idele, charged the newly inaugurated campaign council to translate the administration’s reform message into direct grassroots engagement.

She said the “Renewed Hope Agenda 2.0: From Reforms to Prosperity” was not simply a campaign slogan but a call for women leaders to take ownership of the administration’s message and communicate its opportunities and achievements to Nigerians.

Alile urged the women to take the campaign into homes, markets, communities and wards, insisting that grassroots mobilisation would be critical to the party’s success in 2027.

She outlined a four-point strategy for the council, beginning with the creation of stronger women-to-women networks across wards, local government areas and communities.

The second, she said, was to identify women in need, link them with available empowerment opportunities and ensure that beneficiaries subsequently became agents of development within their communities.

She also tasked the council with taking the message of reform, opportunity and prosperity to every community while listening to citizens’ concerns and transmitting constructive feedback to the leadership.

The final plank of the strategy, she said, was to move beyond mobilisation to measurable results through clearly defined responsibilities, functional grassroots structures, regular engagement and accountability.

The inauguration signals the beginning of what the APC hopes will be a formidable women-driven campaign machinery ahead of the 2027 elections, with the party positioning its female leadership structures as a critical force in its quest for victory across the country.

2027: Tinubu Deserves Second Term, Says First Lady Oluremi unveils APC women campaign council, orders nationwide mobilisation for ‘total victory

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Troops, DIA Team Recover SMG Rifle, Ammunition in Taraba Raid

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Troops, DIA Team Recover SMG Rifle, Ammunition in Taraba Raid

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of the 114 Battalion (Reinforcement), in collaboration with a Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) composite team, have recovered a submachine gun rifle and assorted ammunition during a raid on a suspected criminal hideout in Taraba State.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the operation was conducted at about 3:00 p.m. on Oct. 3, 2026, at Abbare in Lau Local Government Area.

The sources said the joint team recovered one submachine gun rifle, one magazine, 12 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, one round of 7.62mm special ammunition and five rounds of 9mm ammunition.

No contact was made with the suspected criminals, and no arrest was recorded during the operation.

The recovered weapon and ammunition remain in military custody for further investigation and necessary action.

The raid forms part of ongoing security efforts to dismantle criminal hideouts, recover illegal weapons and prevent armed groups from using such facilities to perpetrate violence in the region.

Troops, DIA Team Recover SMG Rifle, Ammunition in Taraba Raid

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Troops Recover Two Rustled Cattle After Foiling Attack in Plateau

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Troops Recover Two Rustled Cattle After Foiling Attack in Plateau

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Sector 2, Operation Enduring Peace (OPEP), have recovered two rustled cattle following an encounter with suspected terrorists in Gululu village, Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State.

Security sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 2, 2026, when troops responded to reports of cattle rustling by suspected terrorists in the community.

The sources said the troops engaged the suspected assailants, forcing them to retreat in disarray.

A subsequent search of the general area led to the recovery of two cattle allegedly rustled by the fleeing suspects.

The recovered cattle were subsequently handed over to their owner.

The operation highlights ongoing efforts by security forces to curb cattle rustling, protect rural communities and safeguard livelihoods in Plateau State.

Troops Recover Two Rustled Cattle After Foiling Attack in Plateau

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