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NDLEA Smashes Attempts to Smuggle Drugs in Jeans Hems, Dolls, Buttons to Europe, Asia
NDLEA Smashes Attempts to Smuggle Drugs in Jeans Hems, Dolls, Buttons to Europe, Asia
By: Michael Mike
Attempts by drug syndicates to smuggle illicit substances including various quantities of methamphetamine and opioids concealed in hems of new jeans trousers, dolls, buttons, local soap and tins of beverage to Europe, United Arab Emirate and Asia have been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at some courier firms in Lagos.
A statement by the spokesman of the anti- narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi on Sunday said some of the consignments intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) at courier houses in Lagos include: tramadol 225mg concealed in hems of new jeans trousers heading to Cyprus; shipment of cannabis sativa hidden in heads of dolls going to Dubai, UAE; sachets of tramadol 225mg buried in tins of beverage going to UAE and another set of same drug hidden in local soap also going to UAE, as well as a consignment of methamphetamine concealed in buttons heading to Hong Kong.
He said a shipment of another illicit substance coming from Florida, USA was equally intercepted at a courier firm while the recipient, Daniel Ogi was tracked by NDLEA officers and arrested at 5 Akeem Shittu street, Ajao Estate Lagos on Friday 24th November 2023.
Babafemi also said operatives in Lagos last Friday arrested a drug kingpin, Okechukwu Ogala, 56, who specialises in exploiting and recruiting young persons to export meth to Asian countries. He was arrested at Blue Moon Hotel in Okota area of Lagos with 60 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.009 kilogrammes
In another operation in Lagos, operatives last Friday recovered 393 kilogrammes of cannabis in a shop at Akala, Mushin while a suspect, Justin Enuonye, who deals in Canadian Loud was arrested by the police at Victoria Island and transferred to Lagos Command of NDLEA this same day with 154 parcels weighing 92 kilogrammes.
Babafemi also said a team of NDLEA operatives also intercepted a vehicle at Oyingbo area of Lagos and recovered 108 kilogrammes of cannabis from it, while 675 kilogrammes of the same substance were recovered from the store of a wanted dealer, Wahab Olota at Adedoja area of Mushin, Lagos State.
In Edo, NDLEA operatives last Wednesday stormed the Ujiogba forest, Esan West local government area where they recovered 5,988 kilogrammes of cannabis already processed and ready for distribution while a 22-year-old, Mson Bunde, (a.k.a Tete Peter Joseph) found in a hut on the cannabis farm was arrested.
He said no less than 120,000 capsules of tramadol concealed in new sound systems packed in a Jos, Plateau state-bound bus were seized by NDLEA officers acting on intelligence along Onitsha-Awka road, Anambra state last Monday, while 123 blocks of cannabis weighing 73 kilogrammes were recovered from a suspect, Abdullahi Bello along Gombe-Bauchi road, Gombe state last Wednesday, operatives in Abuja seized 168 blocks of same psychoactive substance with a total weight of 101 kilogrammes from the store of a fleeing drug dealer in Kabusa area of the FCT.
The NDLEA spokesman said no fewer than 8,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered by NDLEA operatives last Friday when they intercepted a vehicle transporting the opioid along Abuja- Kaduna road, with the driver, Shamsu Isiyaku and his conductor, Muhammad Maina arrested. Same day, operatives also arrested Ernest Esechie, 30, with 44.4 kilogrammes of compressed cannabis sativa along Gwantu- Sanga road, Kaduna.
In Kogi, NDLEA officers arrested Ahmad Umar, 18, with 46.4 kilogrammes of cannabis at a check point in Kabba, while Jamilu Zakari, 32, was nabbed at Kofar Idi, Kandahar, Bauchi town, Bauchi state with 125 blocks of same substance that weighed 146 kilogrammes.
At least, 542.3 kilogrammes of cannabis were recovered from a suspect, Festus Egeogoli, 32, when his base at Jakpa road, Warri, Delta state was raided by NDLEA operatives last Wednesday, while 125.9 kilogrammes of same substance were also seized from a store in the same area.
He said the various commands of the Agency across the country
continued with the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Phrankstars School, Awka, Anambra; students of Taskar Alkairi Primary and Secondary Schools, Goburawa, Dala LGA, as well as Natsugune Primary and Secondary Schools, Ungogo LGA, Kano; students of Kevqueen College, Itanla, Ondo West LGA, Ondo; students of Unibek Group of Schools, Port Harcourt, Rivers; students of The Apostolic High School, Ilesa, Osun, and students of Usman Jidda Shuwa Memorial Secondary School, Gamboru, Borno state.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the officers and men of the Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Gombe, FCT, Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi and Delta commands of the agency as well as DOGI for their outstanding feats in the past week, applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures thus creating parity between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.
NDLEA Smashes Attempts to Smuggle Drugs in Jeans Hems, Dolls, Buttons to Europe, Asia
Nine PAP Foreign Scholarship Beneficiaries Bag Master’s Degrees From UK Varsities
•••771 to Graduate in Nigeria in 2025
•••Otuaro Hails Scholars’ Performances
By: Michael Mike
Nine students awarded foreign post-graduate scholarships by the Presidential Amnesty Programme have graduated from their master’s degree rprogrammes in universities in the United Kingdom.
The successful scholars are the first graduates in the offshore post-graduate scholarship deployment to UK institutions by the PAP Administrator, Dr Dennis Otuaro, for the 2024-2025 academic session.
They graduated from the Anglia Ruskin University, University of Dundee and The University of Law with master’s degrees in cyber security, data science and engineering, law, construction and civil engineering management, project management, and ICT.
Also, 711 undergraduate and post-graduate scholarship beneficiaries are expected to graduate from universities within Nigeria this year.
The PAP, on Wednesday, 3 December, 2025, organised a graduation reception for the scholars in London.
Otuaro has congratulated them on their successful graduation, stressing that they completed their programmes in record time which shows the seriousness they had put into their studies.
He said they have justified the Federal Government’s investment in their education with their successful graduation, and urged other beneficiaries not to be distracted in their academic pursuits.
“We congratulate these scholars on their successful graduation. It shows that they took their studies seriously. That is what we demand of every scholarship beneficiary, whether at the undergraduate or post-graduate level”, Otuaro said.
He reiterated his unwavering commitment to expanding the scholarship scheme to create more opportunities for indigent students of Niger Delta extraction to access higher education with a view to closing the human capital development gap in the region.
Otuaro said it was for this reason he deployed 3800 beneficiaries in-country in the 2024-2025 academic year, and increased the figure to 3900 in the 2025-2026 academic session with 200 for foreign scholarships.
Otuaro has so far deployed 7700 students for the PAP scholarship scheme within Nigeria in less than two years.
Within this period, also, he has also deployed 162 students from the region for post-graduate programmes in targeted disciplines in the UK universities.
According to him, this is in conformity with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu for the Niger Delta, who has given unprecedented support to the PAP because of his sincere love for the area.
The PAP boss said, “Our decision aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR for the Niger Delta. We will continue to create more higher educational opportunities for students from indigent backgrounds in our region.
“We are also deepening the implementation of the programme’s mandate in informal education and other areas for the sustainable peace and socio-economic advancement of the region.”
Nine PAP Foreign Scholarship Beneficiaries Bag Master’s Degrees From UK Varsities
Sunshine Joint Venture Infrastructure Limited Established for Realization of Ondo Project
By: Michael Mike
Sunshine Joint Venture Infrastructure Limited has been incorporated to seamlessly allowed for the Refinery and Free Trade Zone in Ondo State.
A press statement on Thursday read that: “In furtherance of our commitment to the execution of these two major projects – Refinery and Free Trade Zone in conjunction with the Ondo State Government, the joint partners have taken another giant step by incorporating a joint company, namely – SUNSHINE JOINT VENTURE INFRASTRUCTURE LIMITED – as the vehicle to be used in executing these projects. A move that further reinforces the sincerity of purpose and total commitment of the funding partners to move ahead together as a united front.
According to the release by Wale Adekola on behalf of the JV, the Sunshine Joint Venture Infrastructure Limitedwill, going forward serve as the vehicle to work with the Ondo State Government through the Ondo State Investment Promotion Agency (ONDIPA) in the implementation of the executed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs).
The statement added that: “In moving the projects forward for implementation, the JV team met in Dubai to finalize the funding modalities and put in place structures and plans for the commencement of activities for ground breaking and community engagements. These initial activities are aimed at complementing the 50th Anniversary of the creation of Ondo State and the one year anniversary of the election of the Executive Governor of the Sunshine State, His Excellency, Chief Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa CFR.
At the Dubai meeting were key officers of the JV Company, including: Messrs SALEHI FARHAD; ZAHERI NAVID; EGHBAL KORDJAMSHIDI; SAHEED ZAHERI; DR. STEPHEN DIKE; HENRY OWONKA AND MRS. NAMVAR MARYAM.
The statement further informed that, plans have been concluded to mobilize the relevant contractors working with the locals and host communities to put up structures that will host the information center, architectural models to showcase the projects on offer and facilities that will serve the team. All these are being planned with ONDIPA to execute the relocation and accommodation of the host communities that are likely to be affected by the projects and create a seamless transition that will engender peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationship with our host communities.
The JV company further reiterated its commitment to work with Ondo State Government (through ONDIPA) to change the infrastructural landscape of the Sunshine State and for mutual benefits.
Sunshine Joint Venture Infrastructure Limited Established for Realization of Ondo Project
Edo: Seven suspected bandits arrested along Benin-Agbor Road
By: Zagazola Makama
Seven suspected bandits were arrested along the Benin–Agbor Road in Edo State during stop-and-search operations, security sources confirmed.
Sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects, all Fulani youths, were intercepted after being offloaded from a truck at about 1800 hours on 2 December 2025. A search revealed pictures of assault rifles, including AK-47s, on their mobile phones.
Upon interrogation, the suspects claimed to have travelled from Adamawa State. Investigations are ongoing for the possible recovery of actual firearms and to determine their involvement in criminal activities.
Security agencies have urged members of the public to report any suspicious movements to help prevent criminal acts in the area.
Edo: Seven suspected bandits arrested along Benin-Agbor Road
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