NDLEA Arrests female bandits’ supplier with cache of ammunition Intercepts Colos consignment in boxing kits on New Year day

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on New Year day, Monday 1st January 2024 intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos a consignment of Colorado, a very strong strain of cannabis, concealed in boxing kits imported from the United States of America.

A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said a weeklong intelligence-led operation to get the receiver arrested was consummated last Saturday following the successful tracking and arrest of 38-year-old Olorunfunmi Olakunle who distributes the dangerous psychoactive substance to dealers across Lagos state.

Babafemi said the consignment had arrived the country last Monday via Cairo on Egypt Airlines flight marked as boxing kits.

Olakunle during interrogation, disclosed that he has been delivering such consignments to different recipients whenever his childhood friend, US-based Sagir Salami sent them. The latest shipment has a total weight of 1.8 kilogrammes.

Meanwhile, a 28-year-old female supplier of ammunition to bandits, Bilkisu Suleiman came top on the list of 12 other suspects arrested by NDLEA operatives in new year interdiction operations in Kaduna, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun states.

Suleiman, according to the statement, was arrested last Wednesday by NDLEA officers on patrol along Zaria – Kano expressway in possession of 249 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a black nylon bag kept in her lady’s handbag.

She was on her way to deliver the ammunition to an identified bandit in Kakumi village, Katsina state when she was nabbed after which she was transferred to the Kaduna state command of the Nigeria Police Force for further investigation.

The military authorities at the Bonny camp cantonment in Lagos last Tuesday transferred a suspect, Francis Suru, 37 and 63 jumbo bags of Ghana Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,104.2 kilogrammes and a truck to the Lagos state command of NDLEA.

Babafemi said the suspect and the drug exhibits were earlier intercepted by NDLEA officers on 12th December 2023 close to the gate of the military cantonment in Bonny Camp, Victoria Island.

According to him, some armed escorts resorted to sporadic shooting to obstruct the operation, a development which attracted soldiers from the cantonment, who eventually intervened and took custody of the consignment and suspect before transferring them to the agency.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Niger state last Thursday during a stop and search operation along Suleja-Kaduna road intercepted a J5 bus coming from Ondo state to Zaria, Kaduna state with 23 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilogrammes. Two suspects: Umar Musa, 26 and Isachiru Abubakar were arrested in connection with the seizure.

Babafemi also disclosed that a female drug trafficker, Queen Onyema, 27, was arrested on Saturday 6th January in a commercial bus enroute Abuja along Okene-Lokoja expressway with 12 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 4.6 kilogrammes and 0.046 kilogrammes designer drugs concealed in an indomie carton, another suspect Mubarak Sani, 20, was nabbed at Gadar Tamburawa area of Kano last Monday with 445.9 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substance.

In Borno, four suspects: Zanna Alhaji Dala, 32; Musa Umar, 21; Mushe Ibrahim, 23, and Shehu Idris, 19 were arrested at Pomponari bye pass area of the state with 60 kilogrammes cannabis.

Also, in Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Osogbo-Ode Omu road on new year day, intercepted a consignment of illicit drugs sent through waybill from Lagos to Osogbo. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Ibrahim Olawale, 43. The drugs recovered include: cannabis sativa 10.8 kilogrammes; Loud 150 grammes; Colorado 19 grammes; Molly 5 grammes totalling 10.974 kilogrammes. A digital scale, N18,000 monetary exhibit and customized wrapping papers for Colorado were also seized.

Babafemi said NDLEA Commands across the 36 states and the FCT equally continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation lectures in schools, communities, work places and others.

The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the arrests and seizures of the past week by officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Niger, Kogi, Kano, Borno, and Osun Commands, charged them and their compatriots across all formations of the agency to continue to remain vigilant and double their drug demand reduction as well as drug supply reduction efforts in the new year.

NDLEA Arrests female bandits’ supplier with cache of ammunition Intercepts Colos consignment in boxing kits on New Year day

May 29: Days Count As Tinubu and Shettima Commit to Nigeria

By: James Bwala

The upcoming government of Bolo Ahmed Tinubu and Senator Kashim Shettima stands apart in some way. They both come from the southwest and northeast, respectively, and have viewed the Nigerian states as an endeavor of hope that must satisfy their ambition for a new Nigeria.

It should be observed that both Tinubu and Kashim Shettima prepared to unite Nigerians before, during, and after their campaigns. The triumph they achieved during the general elections on February 25 speaks louder than the voices trying to thwart the return of optimism that the Nigerian states have been waiting for a long time.

Finally, we have arrived. The President-elect’s visit to Port Harcourt, in the state of Rivers, where he was called by Governor Nyesome Wike to commission some projects, has reawakened the spirit of unity and the dream of fresh hope for a better country and brighter future for the nation.

The new administration is carefully putting together plans and apparatus that would drive away corruption, religious bigotry, and its vises, which occupied spaces and were quickly taking on a culture of their own among the Nigerian people, despite the numerous calls for reductions in pedestrian fatalities.

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Politics has risen and fallen. Those who have lived in Lagos are familiar with the truth from fiction when it comes to the Tinubu administration’s intentions and what is likely to turn another page in history. The same held true for the inhabitants of Borno State and their anticipated future.

For those who are requesting an interim government. That is a fantasy. Nigerians have developed past their ethnic or religious allegiances. Nothing that did not occur prior to or during the election could ever occur. Negative challenges lead to negative expectations. The May 29, 2023 inauguration is a day of promise to Nigerians.

The next president and vice president of Nigeria, Tinubu and Shettima, will be sworn in. The tale no longer centers on the party to which they both belong, nor could it refer to what the opposition party represents to certain Nigerians. Tinubu and Kashim Shettima are leaders who are working to make Nigeria bigger, and their government will significantly enhance the lives of those who have faith in the stability of our nation.

May 29: Days Count As Tinubu and Shettima Commit to Nigeria

Nigeria: 1.5 million girls enrolled into schools in the north – UNICEF

By: Our Reporter

In response to the low levels of participation of girls in schooling, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) of the UK, and UNICEF implemented the Girls’ Education Programme Phase 3 (GEP3) across six northern Nigerian states of Katsina, Kano, Niger, Sokoto, Zamfara and Bauchi between 2012 and 2022.  

A statement from UNICEF said at the national closing ceremony of GEP3 held in Abuja on 24 November 2022, the partners reported that the programme’s investment of $109 million yielded positive results in enrolling an additional 1.5 million girls into school, far exceeding the project’s target. 

“The attendance rate of girls in primary schools in the six states improved from 43% to 70%, while gender parity improved from 0.73 to 0.97. 

“GEP3 worked to improve the quality of education for all children and helped girls gain better access to education and economic opportunities, breaking the cycle of poverty and disadvantage. ” The statement said.

“In our commitment to drastically reduce the number of Out of School Children, Nigeria appreciates the scaling of evidence-based solution in tackling  this menace as provided through the GEP3. As we continue on this path, we would leverage on the success of GEP3 to plan better, budget better, and make better decisions in putting more Girl- Child in school,” said Honourable Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu.

“GEP3 has not only been successful in getting more girls into formal and non-formal schools, but it has also improved learning outcomes. GEP3 has raised the profile of educated girls, created new positive social norms in many communities and enabled a transformational shift in mindsets about the importance of girls’ education. It is critical that we advocate scaling of the approach in all states,” said Cristian Munduate, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria. 

“I express the deep appreciation of UNICEF to the UK Government for this long-term commitment and funding for girls’ access to primary school in northern Nigeria. Together there remains much work to be done, to ensure that girls transition  to, and complete secondary education. This is important not only for the economic prosperity and wellbeing of the girl and her family, but to stem the high population growth expected in Nigeria. We see FCDO and the government of Nigeria as steadfast partners in this complex endeavour,” added Munduate.

In addition to surpassing its target enrollment figures, GEP3’s innovations, policies and best practices are contributing to improvements in Nigeria’s educational sector.

GEP3 has also built the capacity of Head teachers and teachers in the management of schools as well as delivery of effective learning for girls.

GEP3’s unconditional cash transfer programme supported over 23,500 girls and reduced the level of poverty in the household, enabling families to send girls to school and  enhanced the ability of women to generate additional domestic income. 

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Furthermore, community-based structures like Mothers’ Association, School Based Management Committees, and the High-level Women Advocates have been established as enduring platforms for community mobilization, mentorship and policy advocacy on girls’ education.

The programme was also instrumental in strengthening non-formal Qur’anic schools through the integration of foundational literacy and numeracy. To improve learning levels, the programme delivered an early literacy and numeracy intervention, the Reading And Numeracy Activity (RANA). RANA was designed to improve literacy and numeracy instruction in grades 1-3 in over 3,800 public schools and Integrated Qur’anic schools. RANA developed Hausa-language teaching and learning materials, built teacher capacity, mobilized communities and engaged local governments to improve early-grade reading policies. 

Overall, the GEP 3 programme trained over 67,000 primary school teachers, including those teaching in Integrated Qur’anic schools to improve their skills and ability to deliver quality education.

“The GEP 3 has been one of the UK’s largest bilateral Girls’ Education programmes globally. We have seen good progress in improving access for girls and moving towards gender parity but with an increasing population, Nigeria’s out of school children figures remain high, for girls and boys. We now need to ensure that we build on the successful interventions of GEP 3, supporting them to be scaled-up and sustained to ensure they are catalysts for change in the wider sector,” said Catriona Laing, British High Commissioner to Nigeria.

Nigeria: 1.5 million girls enrolled into schools in the north – UNICEF