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France, Hong Kong-Bound Businessmen Excrete Cocaine, Heroin At Abuja Airport
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested two businessmen at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja with cocaine and heroin concealed in their bellies on their way to Hong Kong and France.
While 38-year-old ThankGod Chimamkpa Emenike was arrested at the boarding gate of the Abuja Airport during the outward clearance of passengers on Air France flight 818 to Paris, on Friday, October 20, another passenger, 41-year-old Agbo Chidike Prince was taken into NDLEA custody on Saturday, October 21, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 950 to Hong Kong via Addis Ababa.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who made the disclosure in a statement, yesterday, noted that the suspects were both arrested and detained after their body scan revealed they ingested the illicit drugs.
Babafemi stated that after days in custody and a number of excretions, Emenike excreted 72 wraps of heroin weighing 1.171 kilograms, while Chidike discharged 49 pellets of cocaine with a total weight of 998.53grams.
He disclosed that Chidike, in his statement, claimed he is a businessman dealing in spare parts at the Alaba International market in the Ojo area of Lagos.
The NDLEA spokesman said the suspect added that he was to be paid N3.5 million which he intended to use to import goods from Hong Kong.
Babafemi noted that the operatives of the Lagos Command of the NDLEA intercepted and recovered a vehicle loaded with 209kgs of Loud at the Okun Ajah area of the state on Monday, October 23.
He said the anti-narcotics officers also recovered an abandoned consignment of 401 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 392kgs and 21,000 capsules of tramadol in the Tumfure area of Gombe State last Saturday, October 28.
He added that the NDLEA operatives, in the early hours of yesterday, stormed the Utese forest in the Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State and evacuated a total of 2,931.3 kilograms of cannabis sativa from a warehouse in the forest.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA operatives have also intercepted a Qatar Airways flight passenger going to Oman, Agbo Celestine Tochukwu, with a consignment of 58 parcels of skunk weighing 29.10kgs while undergoing processes to board his flight at the terminal 11 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, Lagos State.
Tochukwu, in his statement, claimed he relocated to Oman on May 6, 2023, and has been working as hotel attendant in Oman before venturing into drug trafficking.
Babafemi made this known in a statement issued yesterday.
The NDLEA spokesman added that 2,197 kilograms of skunk were recovered in four interdiction operations in parts of Ondo State within four days.
He said 1,165.5kgs were seized in Uso, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State on Wednesday, October 25, adding that a consignment of 691kgs were recovered from Ukugu forest in Ipele the on Tuesday, October 24.
“A suspect, Ifeanyi Abuguja, 32, was arrested with 87kgs of same substance on Monday, October 23 at Agula Road, Ogbese, Akure North LGA, while 253.5kgs were recovered at Ogbese market in Akure North LGA on Thursday, October 26,” the NDLEA spokesman stated.
He disclosed that two suspects – Ayo Dele, 19, and Olaitan Ahmed, 23 – were arrested with 160 grams of cannabis at a drug joint at the Nalende area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Sunday, October 22.
The NDLEA spokesperson noted that a follow-up operation at their warehouse in the same area led to the recovery of 332kgs of the same substance.
While commending the officers of the anti-drug agency for the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their compatriots across all formations of the agency to maintain the offensive action tempo and strive to surpass previous records while maintaining a balance with their drug demand reduction efforts.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.