News

UN Sanctions N’ Korea Over Nuclear Weapons

Published

17 years ago

July 27, 2009

Faced with a fresh refusal by North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme, United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the communist regime has “no friends left” to shield it from United Nations penalties.

“North Korea’s continued pursuit of its nuclear ambitions is sure to elevate tensions on the Korean peninsula and could provoke an arms race in the region,” Clinton told a news conference after conferring with officials from 26 other countries and organisations. She cited near unanimity on fully enforcing the latest U.N. sanctions against North Korea for its repeated nuclear and missile tests.

Clinton said the U.S. will continue to insist that North Korea return to the bargaining table and verifiably dismantle its nuclear programme. At the same time, she held out the prospect of restoring U.S. diplomatic ties to North Korea and other incentives — actions the Obama administration would be willing to consider only if the North Koreans take irreversible steps to denuclearize.

Just before she spoke, a North Korean official declared that six-party talks on denuclearising North Korea was over. And the North Korean Foreign Ministry ridiculed Clinton, saying in a statement that she has “made a spate of vulgar remarks” that “suggest that she is by no means intelligent.”

Before departing for Washington after a weeklong trip to India and Thailand, Clinton offered a somewhat more optimistic message about another trouble spot on the U.S. foreign policy agenda: Myanmar, the military-run southeast Asian nation also known as Burma.

“There is a positive direction that we see with Burma,” she said. She praised Myanmar’s government for committing to enforce the U.N. sanctions against North Korea, calling it important in light of Myanmar’s suspected secret military links to North Korea.

And she suggested Myanmar may have played a role this month in persuading a North Korean cargo ship suspected of carrying weaponry in violation of the sanctions to return home instead of continuing to its destination, which U.S. officials said was probably Myanmar.

Clinton also called on Myanmar to unconditionally release democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is accused of violating the terms of her house arrest.

On North Korea, Clinton stressed a point she has made repeatedly — that a fully nuclear North Korea might compel other countries in Asia to follow suit. She mentioned no names, but Japan and South Korea are thought to be among those that might go nuclear under circumstances in which they felt threatened by the North and less than fully confident of protection under a U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Clinton also said, “I wanted to make very clear that the United States does not seek any kind of offensive action against North Korea.” She said a North Korean delegate at Thursday’s meeting complained of being subjected to U.S. nuclear threats, but she said this showed a disconnect with reality, given that U.S. nuclear weapons were removed from South Korea nearly 20 years ago.

She said the world — including China, which has been North Korea’s most loyal supporter — has made it clear to Pyongyang that it has “no place to go.”

“They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community’s efforts to move toward denuclearization,” she said.

Just moments before she spoke at this southern Thai seaside resort, a spokesman for the North Korean delegation at the Phuket conference said his government will not return to six-party talks with the U.S., Japan, South Korea, China and Russia, citing the “deep-rooted anti-North Korean policy” of the United States.

“The six-party talks are over,” Ri Hung Sik said.

The Phuket forum, known as the Asian Regional Forum and drawing senior officials from 27 nations, is one of the rare instances of U.S. and North Korean diplomats appearing together, although U.S. officials said there was no substantive contact. Clinton told the news conference she was disappointed in what she heard from the North Korean delegate who addressed the conference.

“The question is: Where do we go from here?” she asked.

Her reply, essentially, was that the U.S. and its negotiating partners will not back down from their insistence that North Korea not only resume negotiations but scrap its nuclear program in a verifiable way and return to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And she said the U.N. sanctions will be applied as strictly and fully as possible.

“The bottom line is this: If North Korea intends to engage in international commerce its vessels must conform to terms” of the U.N. sanctions, “or find no port,” she said.

Clinton said the Obama administration would soon send Philip Goldberg, its coordinator for implementing the U.N. sanctions that were approved by the Security Council in June, back to Asia for a new round of consultations on enforcement.

And, in what she called an illustration of U.S. concern about the welfare of North Korea’s people, Clinton said the administration intends to appoint a special envoy to focus on North Korean human rights.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry, still smarting from an earlier Clinton comment likening the regime to “small children” demanding attention, released a statement Thursday saying: “We cannot but regard Mrs. Clinton as a funny lady as she likes to utter such rhetoric, unaware of the elementary etiquette in the international community. Sometimes she looks like a primary schoolgirl and sometimes a pensioner going shopping.”

News

NDLEA Intercepts Drugs Hidden In Clothes, Garri

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of cocaine and various opioids concealed in walls of cartons used to package cloths and other items going to the United Kingdom and Australia.

Spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement shared on X yesterday confirmed the interdiction.

According to him, “The two seizures were recorded at a courier company in Lagos on Friday 15th May 2026 during examination of shipments going to the UK and Australia.

“A total of 170grams of cocaine sealed in cellophane parcels and buried in the walls of a carton of cloths heading to Australia were recovered.

“A wide range of opioids including: 200 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 1,100 capsules of tramadol and 100 ampoules of promethazine injection were recovered from another carton which has United Kingdom as its final destination”.

“In FCT Abuja, NDLEA operatives on Monday 11th May arrested a 29-year-old businessman Ogadi Peter who specializes in producing drug laced cakes and cookies for parties and social gatherings in the capital city.

“Following credible intelligence, he was traced to his home in Life Camp area of the FCT where he was nabbed while 800grams of skunk and 2.70kg drug laced cookies recovered from him”.

“In Delta state, NDLEA operatives on Sunday 10th May, raided Ejeonu village in Ukwuani local government area where they destroyed 27,500 kilograms of skunk on 11 hectares of farmland and recovered 22.9kg of same substance while a 52-year-old suspect Ifeanyichukwu Peter was arrested in a follow up operation at Obiaruku.

“A similar raid in Orogun village, Ughelli North LGA on Tuesday 12th May led to the destruction of 37,500 kilograms and recovery of 55.4kg of same psychoactive substance on 15 hectares of farm as well as the arrest of 30-year-old Godwin Vincent Osadera.

“This brings the total weight of skunk destroyed by NDLEA operatives supported by soldiers in the two operations to 65,000 kilograms”.

“In Kaduna State, 361kg of skunk was recovered during a raid operation at Dan Magaji area of Zaria town on Wednesday 13th May. and a suspect Husaini Suleiman, 42 ,was arrested.

“A large cache of military-grade ammunition was intercepted by NDLEA officers on patrol along Abuja-Kaduna highway, Kaduna on Tuesday 12th May.

“A suspect, 35-year-old Abdullahi Hassan was caught conveying the 1, 989 rounds of RLA 7.62mm concealed in fresh white cassava granules locally known as garri.

“Both the suspect and exhibit have since been transferred to another security agency for further investigation’.

Also, a total of 181kg skunk was recovered from a suspect Aliyu Sani when NDLEA operatives raided the Ogere area of Ogun state on Wednesday 13th May, while another suspect Sufiyanu Mohammed Misa, 27, was arrested with 105,850 pills of opioids including tramadol, diazepam and exol-5 along Zaki- Biam road Wukari LGA, Taraba state on Thursday 14th May.

In Oyo State, two suspects: Adeleke Olamide Aliyah, 20, and Aloba Abdulazeez, 25, were arrested on Thursday, 14th May at Challenge II, Saki town, in connection with the seizure of 99 litres of skuchies.

NDLEA also said a total of 1,388.4175 kilograms of skunk were destroyed on two farms on Friday, 15th May when NDLEA officers raided Ago forest, Orhionmwon LGA, Edo state.

A 25-litre jerry can of palm oil used to conceal 1.2kg pills of tramaking 225mg was recovered from Kofar Ruwa motor park in Kano on Monday, 11th May following credible intelligence while a suspect Aminu Isa, 35, was arrested at Sabuwar Sharada area of the state same day with 30.5kg skunk.

The War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week including: WADA sensitization lecture delivered to students and staff of The Apostolic Church Model College, Ijokodo, Ibadan Oyo State; School of Health Technology, Lambata, Niger state; Yewa Junior High School, Agege, Lagos; Government Secondary School, Yardaje, Katsina; Igogo Commercial High School, Igogo Ekiti and Government Girls Secondary School, Magwan, Kano state; among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Delta, Kaduna, Oyo, Taraba, Kano, FCT and Edo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

News

Five Die In Abuja Building Collapse

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

No fewer than five persons have been confirmed dead after a three-storey building under construction collapsed in the Durumi 3 area near Gudu Market in the Abuja Municipal Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday morning.

Ten other persons were rescued alive from the rubble, according to the media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lere Olayinka, who provided an update on the incident via his X handle on Saturday.

Olayinka further stated that the Mandate Secretary of the Health Services and Environment Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, who visited the site, disclosed that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, had directed that “all casualties be given free medical treatment.”

According to him, emergency responders continued efforts to evacuate more victims believed to be trapped beneath the rubble.

Officials of the Federal Fire Service, health workers, security agencies and local volunteers were at the scene working to rescue victims.

Recall that in April, six persons were injured following a similar collapse of a two-storey building under construction in Jikwoyi within the AMAC area.

News

Odu Charges Newlyweds To Build Marriage On Love

Published

2 hours ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

Rivers State Deputy Governor, Prof. Ngozi Odu, has charged newlywed couples to build their marriages on the virtues of love as taught in the Word of God.

Prof. Odu gave the charge at the wedding ceremony of Amblessed Favour Sunny-Cookey and Samson Jesuganji at Lifegate Power Ministries, Dominion Cathedral, in Port Harcourt at the weekend.

This was contained in a statement by the Head of Press, Deputy Governor’s Office, Owupele Benebo last Saturday.

The statement identified the bride as the daughter of Pastor Sunny Cookey, the Founder and Presiding Pastor of Lifegate Ministries.

The deputy governor congratulated the couple on a new phase of life, and prayed for God’s blessings upon their union, noting that the couple were raised by godly parents and encouraging them to uphold the Christian values instilled in them.

Referring to the sermon delivered during the ceremony, Odu emphasized that the principles of love and submission remain fundamental to a successful marriage.

According to her, genuine love reflects the nature of God, stressing that love should remain the foundation of the couple’s relationship as they journey through life together.

She prayed for enduring peace, happiness, and progress in their home, expressing confidence that the marriage would continue to flourish under God’s guidance.

The deputy governor commended the families of the couple for their support and upbringing, while urging the newlyweds to always remember the significance of the day and the commitment they had made before God and witnesses.

In his sermon at the wedding, the Founder and Presiding Pastor of Salvation Ministries, Pastor David Ibiyeomie, stated that marriage did not originate from Western culture, traditions, or human ideas, but from God, whom he described as the “manufacturer” of marriage.

According to the cleric, couples seeking lasting and peaceful homes must rely on biblical principles rather than societal trends or assumptions.

He explained that many marital crises and rising divorce rates stem from ignorance and failure to apply scriptural teachings in family life.

Drawing from the biblical parable of building a house on a rock, Ibiyeomie said the Word of God remains the only solid foundation capable of sustaining marriages through challenges and difficult times.

He noted that marriage naturally comes with unexpected realities and pressures, stressing that religious ceremonies or cultural practices alone are not enough to sustain a home without proper understanding of God’s instructions.

The pastor further warned that ignorance of scripture remains one of the greatest weapons against believers, urging Christians to study and practice the Word of God rather than merely attending church services.

The ceremony had many ministers in attendance including Apostle Zilly Aggrey, Pastor George Izunwa, and Bishop Winston Iwo.