Zulum Celebrates Christmas with Frontline Soldiers in Malam Fatori, Reaffirms Commitment to Troops Welfare

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum has marked Christmas on Thursday by visiting frontline troops of the Nigerian Army’s 68 Battalion in the strategic border town of Malam Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area.

The Governor has spent the preceding four days traversing northern Borno, coordinating security measures and strengthening the resilience of returning communities. As part of his administration’s commitment to restoring civil authority, he spent the night in the newly resettled town, engaging with community leaders and residents.

His visit to the battalion, coinciding with the festive season, served as a symbolic and reassuring gesture to soldiers stationed far from their families under challenging operational conditions.

Governor Zulum commended the officers and men for their gallantry, resilience, and professionalism, stating that their sacrifices had ensured the survival and stability of Malam Fatori. He described them as the true guardians of peace, whose courage had enabled displaced communities to return and rebuild.

“Celebrating Christmas with the troops protecting our territorial integrity is not merely ceremonial, but a deliberate effort to stand with you at the point of sacrifice,” Governor Zulum said.

He added: “The courage you display daily in securing Malam Fatori and other frontline locations continues to inspire the state’s commitment to supporting security agencies until lasting peace is achieved.”

The Governor reaffirmed his administration’s unwavering support for the armed forces, assuring the battalion of continued logistical and welfare assistance to complement federal efforts.

“Let me reiterate that security remains the top priority of my administration,” he stated, stressing that without peace, development and recovery would be impossible.

In the spirit of the season, Governor Zulum donated five bulls to the battalion to enable the troops to celebrate with dignity. In a rare personal gesture, he joined the soldiers in line, sharing a meal with them within the base.

The visit elicited widespread jubilation from the troops, many of whom expressed renewed morale at the Governor’s presence and personal engagement. For soldiers long separated from their families, the occasion served as a powerful reminder that their sacrifices are seen, valued, and appreciated.

The Governor was accompanied by the member House of Assembly representing Abadam State Constituency, Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, Professor Usman Tar, Commissioner for Local Government and Emirate Affairs, Honourable Sugun Mai Mele and the Director General Borno State Emergency Management Agency.

Zulum Celebrates Christmas with Frontline Soldiers in Malam Fatori, Reaffirms Commitment to Troops Welfare

Zulum Launches Annual Free Christmas Transport For 1,050 Non Indigenes, Support for Vulnerable

By: Our Reporter

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, on Sunday, launched the 2025 Free Annual Transportation Programme to 1,050 non-indigenes and support to vulnerable people.

The initiative reaffirms his administration’s commitment to compassion, inclusivity and people-centred governance to residents and inhabitants of the state.

The scheme has continued to provide critical mobility support to thousands of Nigerians since its inception in 2020, facilitating safe interstate travel during the festive season, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, or social background.

The Governor represented by the Chairman of the Implementation Committee, Chief Ugochukwu Egwudike , said the initiative was designed to ease the hardship faced by low-income earners and vulnerable groups, especially during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

He noted that beyond transportation, the programme aims to promote social cohesion and national unity by reconnecting families separated by economic and security challenges.

Egwudike recalled that “over the years, the scheme has reunited families who had been unable to travel home for three to five years, enabling them to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones”.

He added “during the previous exercise, beneficiaries also received ₦30,000 each, paid directly into their bank accounts to cushion financial pressures and ensure transparency in disbursement”,.

The Chairman of the committee said the 2025 exercise covers all six geopolitical zones of the country, a total of 320 passengers will be transported safely on day one, 280 on day two, and 150 on day three, with all passengers conveyed safely to their destinations, while 300 widows will recieve palliatives.

“A total of 750 people are expected to travel in batches between today, Monday and Tuesday while 300 widows, orphans and other vulnerable groups will receive palliatives on the 4th day of the excercise being 24th December,” Egwudike said.

Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Borno State Chapter, Apostle Joshua Akeredolu, commended the initiative, describing it as timely and impactful, particularly for Christian faithful travelling to celebrate Christmas.

He praised Governor Zulum’s inclusive leadership and offered prayers for his continued success and greater service to humanity.

The Chief of Idoma Community in Borno State, Jonah Odo, described the programme as a practical demonstration of Governor Zulum’s humane and responsive leadership, noting its positive impact on social welfare, interfaith harmony, and national integration.

Chief Odo said Idoma community in Borno State is appreciating the Governor for all the good works he has being doing for the non-indigenes in the state and urged other state governors to emulate Zulum’s gesture for the unification of the country.

The Free Annual Transportation Programme remains one of the flagship social intervention initiatives of Governor Zulum’s administration, providing annual relief and mobility support to thousands of Nigerians across the country.

Zulum Launches Annual Free Christmas Transport For 1,050 Non Indigenes, Support for Vulnerable

Female drug kingpin arrested in Lagos with 23.5kg cocaine stashed children’s room

By: Michael Mike

Twenty months after a cocaine trafficking cartel led by a couple: Toheebat Dauda and Lookman Dauda was smashed by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) with multi-billion-naira worth of illicit drug recovered, another leader of the syndicate Shodunke Simbiat who went underground since May 2024 has been nabbed in her Lagos home where additional 23.5 kilogrammes of the class A drug were recovered from her children’s room.

According to a press statement by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the kingpin Lookman and his queen Toheebat were arrested on Saturday 25th May 2024 by operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA at Ibiye, along Lagos-Badagry expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver the consignment in Ghana.

Babafemi said at the point of their arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilogrammes were found on them, with a swift follow up operation in their residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC extension, Petedo road, Agbara, Ogun state, leading to the recovery of additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10 kilogrammes, bringing the total weight of the consignment seized from the couple to 57.5 kilogrammes.

The spokesman, said determined to rein in every member of the syndicate, the NDLEA operatives continued with follow up intelligence and surveillance on the trans-border drug trafficking organisation until a 39-year-old female stash keeper Shodunke Simbiat was identified as a key member of the DTO, which elicited her being trailed to her 31 Onasanya street, Surulere, Lagos residence on Tuesday 9th December 2025.

Babafemi revealed that a thorough search of her home led to the discovery of blocks of cocaine weighing 23.5 kilogrammes concealed in a black suit case recovered from her children’s room, a drug consignment worth over N5billion in street value that she subsequently admitted ownership of.

In other clampdowns, the NDLEA operatives attached to terminal II departure hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos last Thursday intercepted a 36-year-old businessman Nwanwene Destiny with a total of 1,020 pills of tramadol 225mg and tapentadol 200mg concealed in his luggage while attempting to board a Royal Air-Maroc flight to Milan, Italy where he is based. He claimed the successful trafficking of the opioids to Italy would have fetched him €200 from the person he was to deliver them to.

At the Seme border in Badagry area of Lagos, a 48-year-old Beninoise Leocardi Josu was last Thursday arrested by NDLEA officers while attempting to cross into Nigeria with 3,400 tablets of tramadol 225mg, even as a suspect Abdullahi Adamu, 30, was nabbed along Okene/Lokoja highway with 28.4 kilogrammes skunk, a strain of cannabis and Colorado, a synthetic cannabis last Friday.

In Oyo state, NDLEA operatives last Friday recovered 125,000 capsules of tramadol and 1,800 ampoules of pentazocine injection in a Toyota Hiace bus marked XD 592 AWL along Lagos-Ibadan expressway, while two suspects: Ogunlade Kazeem, 54, and Adeleke Ismail, 30, were arrested with 185.4 kilogrammes of skunk at Challenge motor park, Ibadan, last Wednesday.

Babafemi disclosed that a total of 405 kilogrammes skunk was seized when NDLEA operatives raided Owena/Ijesha forest in Osun state where a suspect Charles James, 45, was nabbed last Friday, while another suspect Jamilu Zakari, 42, was arrested with 14,960 pills of tramadol 225mg at tollgate, along Abuja-Kaduna highway same day. The consignment of opioids was concealed in two kolanut sacks (huhun goro) coming from Abuja to Gusau, Zamfara state.

The spokesman said across all commands and formations of the agency nationwide, NDLEA officers continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

Meantime, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Unit, MMIA, Seme, Kogi, Kaduna, Oyo and Osun commands for the arrests, seizures and their dexterity, enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to remain extra vigilant during the festive season and ensure that highest standard of professionalism is maintained in all their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities all through the period and beyond.

Female drug kingpin arrested in Lagos with 23.5kg cocaine stashed children’s room