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NDLEA Seizes 255,500 Tramadol, 75.75kgs Skunk From Canada …Arrests Dubai-Bound Pregnant Woman Intercepts Europe-Bound Cocaine

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have recovered no fewer than 255,500 pills of tramadol and diazepam from an Italy-based suspect, Duru Josephat, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
It was gathered that Josephat concealed the drugs in two of the bags he was travelling with to Milan, Italy on an Ethiopian airline flight.
The NDLEA Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure in a statement, yesterday.
Babafemi disclosed that the suspect confessed he bought the drugs in Onitsha, Anambra State, and was taking them to Italy to sell.
He noted that the NDLEA operatives also seized 75.75kgs of cannabis indica, which came from Montreal, Canada.
The spokesperson of the anti-drug agency revealed that the consignment was hidden in a container of four used vehicles with number MSCU 5336680.
He said the consignment had been traced to a suspect, Steve Adigwe, who is already in custody, and his accomplice, Cedrick Maduweke, who is still on the run.
Similarly, the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a pregnant woman, Sylvester Gloria Onome, after 800grammes of skunk were discovered in two small radio sets she was sending to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi disclosed that the pregnant woman was arrested on Monday, January 30, 2023.
He stated that the NDLEA operatives, on the same day, intercepted a consignment going to Congo Kinshasa, containing 111 bottles of body cream that were used to conceal 24.50kgs of ephedrine, a chemical precursor and active ingredient to produce methamphetamine.
He stated that the cargo was later traced to a trader at Alaba trade fair complex in the Ojo area of Lagos State, Onyekachukwu Uduekwelu, after the initial arrest of two freight agents.
The NDLEA spokesman revealed that another housewife, Okpara Chizoba Victoria, was arrested at her residence at 37 Obashola street, Ijesha area of Lagos on Friday, January 27 following the seizure of 300grammes of skunk hidden in a bag of crayfish she was sending to Dubai, UAE through a freight agent.
Babafemi added that the NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport, on Thursday, January 26, intercepted a sack of new clothes going to Sierra Leone.
He said a parcel of white crystalline substance that tested positive to methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1kg, as well as 300grammes of skunk and 100grammes ecstasy (MDMA) were recovered after a thorough search of the consignment, adding that a freight agent, Mfonabasi Victor Joseph, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Meanwhile, the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts to export large consignments of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ephedrine to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Europe through various disingenuous modes of concealment by desperate drug cartels via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The NDLEA operatives also arrested the suspects behind the bids.
Top on the list of those arrested in connection with the seizures is a Nigerian based in Athens, Greece, Iwuozor Edward Chinedu.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that Chinedu was debarked from an Ethiopian airline flight on Friday, February 3 after officers in the tarmac team of NDLEA intercepted two bags during a secondary check exercise at the foot of the aircraft.
He noted that when the bags were searched in the presence of Chinedu and other airport stakeholders, two big pellets wrapped with foil papers and some sprinkles of pepper were recovered from each of the two sides of one of the bags, adding that the pellets were used to construct false walls at the sides of the bag.
The NDLEA spokesman said the two parcels contained substances that tested positive to cocaine and heroin with a gross weight of 1.30kgs and 900grammes, respectively.
Babafemi noted that Chinedu, during a preliminary interview, claimed he came to Nigeria three months ago to do surgery, which he was not comfortable doing in Athens.
He stated that the suspect further claimed he was given the bag to deliver in Greece for a fee of N2 million.
While appreciating the efforts and commitment of the officers of the anti-drug agency towards ridding Nigeria of the menace of illicit drugs, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their compatriots across the country not to relent.

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NDLEA Arrests 2 Members Of Afro-Europe Cartel

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has disrupted the activities of a drug syndicate that operated between Nigeria, East Africa, and Europe, with the arrest of two members of the cartel.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Babafemi said that the NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos made the arrest and foiled the attempts to traffic the drugs.
He said that the operatives at the Lagos Airport had on Monday March 13 intercepted a member of the drug syndicate, Ejezie Ifeanyi, during screening of inward passengers on an Ethiopian Airline flight from Malawi via Addis Ababa at the arrival hall.
Babafemi added that a search was conducted on him, saying that it was discovered that one of his two bags had a false bottom concealment.
He said: “During preliminary interview of the suspect, he confessed that a member of the syndicate was waiting at the airport car park to pick him.
According to him, an immediate follow up operation led to the arrest of Franco Chukwu, who was waiting in a grey colour Mercedes Benz C180 coupe, marked EKY 973 GQ to receive the drug consignment.
“After his arrest, a proper search of the bag was conducted before the two suspects leading to the recovery of 3.00 kilograms of heroin.
“Findings revealed that the drug syndicate networks operate between Nigeria, and Malawi, Mozambique in East Africa and Europe.
“Chukwu who lives in Lagos is responsible for the recruitment and coordination of the activities of mules on behalf of other members of the cartel based in Mozambique and Malawi, another set operates from the South-Eastern part of Nigeria, “ Babafemi said.

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Sanwo-Olu, Makinde, Buni, Abiodun, AbdulRazaq Win Second Term Election …As INEC Declares PDP’s Eno Governor-Elect in A’Ibom

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The Governor of Lagos State and candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has won 18 local government areas out of the 20 LGAs of the state in the just concluded governorship and state House of Assembly elections.
The results were announced on Sunday by the Independent National Electoral Commission at its state collation centre in Yaba, Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu who is seeking re-election is contesting against the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor, and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
The incumbent governor polled the highest number of votes in Lagos Island, Epe, Agege, Ibeju-lekki, Surulere, Ikeja, Mushin, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Apapa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Badagry and Lagos Mainland.
Other LGAs where Sanwo-Olu won include Alimosho, Ojo, Ikorodu, Kosofe and Oshodi-Isolo.
However, his opponent, Rhodes-Vivour, defeated the ruling party in Amuwo-Odofin.
The only result left is from Eti-Osa LGA which is yet to be released due to the election currently being held at the Victoria Garden City polling units.
Also, the Oyo State Governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Seyi Makinde, has been declared winner of Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the State.
Makinde won 31 out of 33 Local Government Areas in the state, while his closest rival, Teslim Folarin of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won two local government areas.
Makinde, who was seeking re-election contested against a three-term Senator, Teslim Folarin of the APC and Adebayo Adelabu of the Accord Party, who was former deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Makinde polled 563,617 votes to defeat Folarin who garnered 251,230, and Adelabu who came a distant third with 38,757 votes.
The returning officer for the governorship election and a professor from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Olusola Kehinde, however, declared a 20-minute break before the declaration of the final result.
The announcement of the results was monitored by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Tella Adeniran, alongside heads of security apparatus in the state.
Meanwhile, the Ogun State Governor and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Saturday’s election, Dapo Abiodun, has been re-elected for a second term of four years.
The Independent National Electoral Commission declared Abiodun as the winner of the governorship election on yesterday.
Meanwhile, before Abiodun was announced as the winner of the poll, PDP collation agent, Sunkanmi Oyejide, cautioned the electoral umpire declaring the winner for the election.
Oyejide said the INEC should consider a clause in the Electoral Act (amended) that orders the commission to declare a rerun in the case of total rejected votes outnumbered the lead margin.
This was raised shortly after the Sagamu collation officer, Prof. Oluwagboyega Afolabi, presented the scores of the political parties in the council.
Afolabi had said that 15 polling units were canceled as a result of violence during the governorship election on Saturday.
The PDP agent, however, raised an observation against further submission of the copy of the results.
Oyejide said no fewer than 33,750 voters in Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ikenne, Ijebu-North and Ogunwaterside were asking the commission to look into it.
He added that his party has a petition for the commission.
While raising the objection, Oyejide said, “The electoral act 2022, Section 24 Sub-Section three says where an election has commenced and there is reason to believe that there is or has been substantial destruction of election in a polling unit or constituency or it is impossible to continue with the election, occasioned by the threat to peace and security of electoral officials and materials.
“Electoral officials and materials should be underlined in the case of Remo where BVAS did not function and I argued it out. The commission shall suspend the election and appoint another date for the continuation of the election or the process.
“Secondly, if we invoke the principle of lead of margin enshrine in the electoral act 2022, the rejected votes according to results submitted to local government by local government are far higher than the lead of margin.
“This just to inform you when you are through with your final collation and what happened is found to be true that you will know that the election shall be inconclusive and a rerun should be ordered where necessary”.
The petition titled “Petition against deliberate disenfranchisement of a large number of voters in some local governments of Ogun state” dated March 18, 2023, was addressed to INEC National Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu.
The petition reads “We write to remind your authority of the above-mentioned issue.
“You will recall that the Commission is aware of the level of thuggery planned and orchestrated by the All Progressive Congress to unleash mayhem in some polling units across the state to destabilise innocent voters from freely exercising their voting rights as a result of planned and well-executed action.
“We are aware that the principle of margin of lead as established by the Commission in Section 24(3) is in effect, affected by the inability of the population greater than the reflected lead between the assumed winner of the election and the runner-up. Therefore, a re-run in appropriate to address this injustice.
“We, therefore, implore the Commission to evoke this principle and declare this election inconclusive.”
Reacting to the protest, the returning officer, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, said the complaints have already been looked into.
Adebowale said, “I have tried to check our records and I want to say that everything he said is at variance with what we have as records.
“But, if it is found to be incorrect, INEC has seven days to review its decision.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has also declared Mr. Umo Eno of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the governorship election held last Saturday in Akwa Ibom State.
The Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor, Nigerian Maritime University, Delta State, Prof. Emmanuel Adigio, announced the results at the collation centre in Uyo yesterday.
Adigio said Eno won in 29 out of 31 local government areas of the state to defeat Senator Bassey Akpan of the Young Progressive Party (YPP).
He said that the PDP candidate scored 354,348 votes, beating his closet rival, Akpan who got 136,262 votes.
He also said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored 129,602 votes, the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) garnered 12,509 votes, while the Labour Party (LP) scored 4,746 votes.
The Returning Officer declared: “That the Pastor Umo Eno of the PDP having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declared winner of the governorship election in Akwa Ibom State.”
The PDP candidate won in 29 out of 31 local government areas of the state while his opponent in the YPP, Senator Bassey Akpan, won in only two LGAs.
The local government areas won by the PDP candidate include Udung Uko, Uruan, Ini, Esit Eket, Ikot Abasi, Ikot Ekpene, Etim Ekpo and 22 others while his YPP opponent won in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom LGAs respectively.
The PDP agent, Engr. Uwem Okoko, while commending the INEC for the improvement witnessed in the Saturday polls, also thanked Akwa Ibom people for voting for PDP in the state.
However, the YPP party agent, Mr kelvin Umoh rejected the results, alleging widespread violence, and intimidation that led to the alleged killing of his party supporters.
Umoh said, “It will be wrong for me to append my signature to the results sheets because there was widespread violence and intimidation.
In the same vein, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has been declared the winner of the 2023 governorship election in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).T
The governor won the poll to serve a second term of another four years in office under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).T
The governor beat the two-third requirement and won in all the 16 local government areas of the state in the election results declared by the INEC Returning Officer for the polls, Professor Isaac Itodo, theV ice Chancellor, University of Markurdi, Benue State.
Abdulrazaq polled 273,424 votes to beat his closest rival, Alhaji Yaman Abdullahi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 155,490 votes in the election.
The INEC had on Saturday night started the announcement of the 2023 governorship election results in the State with only three local government areas of Ekiti, Isin and Offa, with Governor AbdulRazaq winning the three LGAs.
At the resumed announcement of the election results yesterday morning, which lasted till evening, the APC governor also won in additional 13 local government areas.
Meanwhile, the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has been re-elected having won in all the 17 local government areas of the state with a total of 317,113 votes.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Sharif Abdulahi, came a distant second with a total score of 104,259.
Announcing the results, at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Damaturu, the Returning Officer for the Gubernatorial election in the state, Prof. Umar Pate, the VC of the Federal University of Kashere, Gombe state, said accredited voters are 459,492, valid votes 444,567 and total votes cast are 457,781.

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UK Budgets £10m For Energy Solution In Sub-Saharan Africa

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The United Kingdom has earmarked 10 million pounds grant for innovators in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, and South Africa to address the energy situation .
Mr Joshua Adedeji, Knowledge Transfer Manager for the Innovate UK Nigeria, said this in statement at the end of an Energy Catalyst meeting in Abuja.
According to Adedeji, the initiative is UK’s Energy Catalyst programme designed to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
He said the initiative was one of UK’s biggest energy access focused grant funding initiatives.
Adedeji added that the objective of the programme was to look out for innovations that could end energy poverty in benefiting countries.
‘One thing we do with this programme is to ensure that organisations are able to bring in their ideas, their solutions and utilize the fund that is available.
“It is a 10 million pounds fund that people can apply for. The fund is open till June this year.
“The mission of the energy catalysts is to accelerate the intervention needed to meet SDG 7 by providing financial and advisory support to innovators.
“To qualify for the grants, innovators must look for partners from the UK and present their proposals, stressing that the project must address transforming energy access and clean energy,”he said
According to Adedeji , transforming energy access is to speed up access to affordable, clean energy services for poor households, enterprises and social institutions in official development assistance (ODA) eligible countries.
He added: ‘’We are particularly keen to receive projects which focus on the Indo-Pacific region, It must support the development, testing or scale up of innovative technologies or business models.
“A clear social or economic benefit in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia or the Indo-Pacific Region is required.
“Creating new energy access in underserved regions improving existing access to provide a more reliable service’’.
The President of the Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria Mr Ayo Ademilua, said the intervention would boost clean energy access in the country.
Ademilua said the association would mobilise its members across the country and connect them with partners in the UK to benefit from the grant.

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