News
‘Military’s Failure To Deploy Tucano Jets, Sign Of Sympathy For Terrorists’
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria,(HURIWA), yesterday, carpeted the Nigerian military over its failure to deploy the 12 Super Tucano fighter jets against terrorists turning the North-West zone into another killing field like the North-East zone.
HURIWA also reminded the Federal Government that these daredevil terrorists are fast approaching the Federal Capital Territory and have struck many times very close to the political capital of Nigeria.
HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the Nigerian military has shown its tolerance for the terrorists by failing to bomb the hideout of the insurgents five months after a Federal High Court designated bandits as terrorists, paving the way for the Nigerian Air Force to bomb the location of the terrorists with the Tucano fighter jets acquired in 2021 from the United States of America.
The group’s comment followed the series of attacks launched by terrorists in Kaduna State in the last one week including the killing of over 50 people in the Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna on Friday, the invasion of the Kaduna International Airport on Saturday by over 200 terrorists, the bombing of an Abuja-Kaduna train on Monday with over 398 passengers onboard, many killed, hospitalised and several others still unaccounted for and the follow-up attack on Tuesday.
HURIWA also noted that the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, last Wednesday, indicted the military over its reluctance to deploy the fighter jets when he said the military knew the location of the bandits wreaking havoc in the state but was refusing to bomb their lair.
It said the military had given a series of excuses for its failure to deploy the fighter jets but the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on November 25, 2021, obtained a judgement designating all gunmen in the North-West as terrorists.
This was said to be a condition by the United States Government for the deployment of the aircraft outside of the North-East.
The order was later gazetted paving the way for the deployment of the fighter jets in the North-West.
The United States Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, had also said the Nigerian Government was expected to deploy the Super Tucano aircraft only in the northern part of the country where Boko Haram insurgents have for over a decade killed thousands and displaced millions.
But the military has, for over five months, refused to deploy the fighter jets while the terrorists shot down a NAF jet, attack the Nigerian Defence Academy, killed over 2,100 innocent lives in Kaduna and kidnapped over 5,000 others within two years.
Onwubiko said the tardiness of the military was not surprising because of the Fulani ethnic extraction of the terrorists involved in the ruins in the North-West states of Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Jigawa.
He said, “The cocktails of terrorist attacks including those of Kaduna since Friday and those of Minna and in Suleja near Abuja in which soldiers were killed showed that Nigeria is indeed in a war situation as confessed by el-Rufai.
“Nigerians deserve to know where the Tucano military bombers bought to fight terrorists are and why the government is sparing the terrorists while thousands of so-called repentant terrorists are released regularly by the Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, and the Federal Government.
“If it were to be in the South-East, the military would have killed everyone as it is already doing with the pockets of attacks experienced in the zone which is nothing to be compared to the terrorism experienced on daily basis in the North-West
“The worsening insecurity also matches HURIWA’s earlier prediction that forces within the Federal Government do not want the 2023 election to hold but to activate a state of national emergency for tenure elongation for some months with the hope of scuttling any power transfer of the President of Nigeria to Southern Nigeria.”
The leadership of the Unified Nigerian Youth Forum (UNYF) has noted that Monday’s attack on the Kaduna-Abuja train by terrorists has further exposed the inability of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to keep to its campaign promises with the increased spate of insecurity and other challenges bedevilling the country.
The forum, therefore, condemned in strong terms the tragic attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train leading to the loss of lives, injuries and abduction of many.
The President of the forum, Comrade Abdulsalam Moh’d Kazeem, in a statement said, “The series of attacks has further exposed the inability of the current administration to keep to her campaign promises, the spate of insecurity in our nation is terrible and we lack appropriate words to describe it.
“It’s no news again that the current administration has failed us, but we the citizens should not allow this to consume us and the leadership, because available information at our disposal shows the nation has recently imported super Tucanos and many helicopter fighting jets, but to our greatest surprise the said Tucanos and fighter jets are nowhere to be found, rather some of them are diverted to be used against citizens during a peaceful and lawful protest against bad governance, to us indeed it’s a misplaced priority and wrong placement.”
It noted that it is not surprised at the current happenings in the country, after over six years of the current administration; the government is still blaming the past government over everything, saying that this alone has further proven that nothing good can be achieved by President Muhammadu Buhari and his co-travellers.
According to the statement, the present administration rather would continue to feed Nigerians with their usual propaganda and conspiracy theories of blaming others for their shortcomings.
It urged the Federal Government to immediately declare a state of emergency on security, stressing that the government should secure the release of all those kidnapped without asking their relatives to pay the ransom.
It also urged the government to pay all the medical bills of all those that sustain injuries and are currently in the hospital and equally compensate them for loss of valuables.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle illicit substances concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and body cream containers through Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a Lagos-based courier firm.
The agency said two consignments bound for Italy were intercepted at the Lagos airport, leading to the arrest of suspects linked to the shipments.
In a statement released yesterday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said one of the suspects, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome, Italy.
The statement partly read, “Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
“One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was going to Rome, Italy on Friday, March 20, 2026, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin-lightening body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
“In his statement, Ehianuka, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.”
In another operation on Wednesday, March 18, Babafemi said NDLEA officers at the departure hall intercepted another passenger, Christian Agbonhese, attempting to board a Lufthansa flight to Milan.
A search of his luggage uncovered 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg, and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg concealed in two large winter jackets.
“No fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg; and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan,” the statement added.
In a separate operation at a courier firm in Lagos, Babafemi said NDLEA officers on Monday, March 16, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped from the United States.
“Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand,” he said.
In Kano State, operatives arrested Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was nabbed at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same substance.
Babafemi said the agency also recovered 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a raid at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos on Wednesday, March 18, adding that two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested the same day on the Third Mainland Bridge while conveying 8,380 bottles of the syrup.
In Edo State, operatives recovered 97.5kg of skunk from the residence of Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on March 16.
In the FCT, officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada Expressway on March 18, recovering 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in body compartments of the vehicle. The driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was arrested.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was on Tuesday, March 17, arrested at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa LGA, with 71.2kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
In a similar development, “Not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas, 28, along Kaduna-Zaria Highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 22, at the same location on Friday, March 20,” Babafemi said.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo Highway with 77,660 capsules of tramadol, while in Adamawa State, six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola.
The suspects include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim, and Musa Mohammed.
The agency said its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, and communities during the week.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the balanced approach to drug control efforts.
News
RSG Applauds FRSC, NDLEA For Enhancing Security In Rivers …As NDLEA Pushes For Drug Tests In Schools, NYSC Camps
The Rivers State Government has commended the dedication and collaboration of federal government agencies in sustaining security in the State.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the State Commander of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), CN Bature Dawa, in Port Harcourt, last week, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dagogo Wokoma, said Governor Siminalayi Fubara appreciates the strong synergy between the agencies in promoting his administration’s vision of peace, prosperity and progress in the State.
Wokoma urged residents to remain law-abiding, noting that respect for the law is essential for good governance and sustainable development in all parts of the state.
He stated that the governor has remained committed to initiatives that promote peace and social order, stressing that the administration will continue to support programmes of federal agencies aimed at strengthening security and public safety.
“Our governor is committed to peace, progress and prosperity in Rivers State. I therefore encourage all residents, especially young people who are often targeted by those involved in drug abuse, to stay away from drugs, crime and reckless driving,” he said.
In his remarks, the State NDLEA boss, Dawa, disclosed that the agency has arrested 39 suspects in the state from December 2025 to date, including 16 new cases currently under investigation.
He explained that the NDLEA, through its Drug Demand Reduction and Drug Supply Control Units, has intensified efforts to curb the spread of illicit drugs and ensure offenders are brought to justice.
Dawa also called on parents and guardians to closely monitor their children, while urging hotel owners and managers to remain vigilant and prevent their facilities from being used for drug-related activities.
He further advocated the introduction of drug integrity tests in schools and within the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme as part of measures to discourage drug abuse among young people.
In a related development, Dr Wokoma received the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), CC Inyang Umoh, during a courtesy visit, and urged residents to abide by road safety laws and drive in consideration of other road users.
In his remarks, the FRSC boss expressed appreciation to Governor Fubara for the continuous support to the Corps.
Muslims in Rivers State have commended Governor Siminialayi Fubara for his dedication and commitment to the development of the state.
They also lauded the governor for promoting peaceful co-existence among various religious groups in the state.
Vice President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs ,Alhaji Nasil Awhelegbe Uhor, gave the commendation last Friday during the Eid-el Fitri prayer to mark the end of Ramadan fasting period, at the Port Harcourt Central Mosque, Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the prayer, Alhaji Uhor said Governor Fubara has shown exemplary leadership in the affairs of the state.
Uhor who is the leader of the South South Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, called on Muslims to remain committed to the ideal of peace and fear of the Almighty Allah.
According to the Rivers State Islamic leader, the message is for Muslims to imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink into their lives and shape their ways of doing things.
He urged Muslims to imbibe the culture of love and respect for one another.
“My message is that all Muslims should imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink with them,” he advised.
Uhor stressed the need for Muslims and all Nigerians to remain patriotic, while avoiding all forms of anti-social behaviours.
He also called on the political leaders to put the country first, stressing that there is no need for Nigerians to continue to wallow in abject poverty when the country is so rich with natural resources.
Also speaking, the Chief Imam of Rivers State, Alhaji Ibrahim S Yalo, urged Muslims to fear God, and speak the truth always.
According to him, time has come for Nigerians to cultivate the habit of peaceful coexistence, speak the truth and be each others keeper.
“Nigerians own a duty to ensure peace, live together in fear of God and speak the truth always,” he said.
By: John Bibor
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