News
Declare State Of Emergency On Security, Reps Tell Buhari …To Probe Alleged Missing $44m From NIA’s Vault
The House of Representatives yesterday called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on security in the wake of deadly attacks in Benue and other states.
In a motion by Babatunde Kolawole (Ekiti – PDP) and Benue State caucus of the House led by the member representing Guma/Makurdi Federal Constituency, Dickson Tarkhighir, the House mandated an ad hoc committee to conduct a public hearing to hear from both sides and proffer a lasting solution.
While presenting the motion, Mr. Kolawole said scores of farmers have been killed in attacks, including women and children, a development that has brought a great sense of insecurity and distrust among ethnic groups, thus raising a spectre of instability in the country.
He also listed the possible outcomes of insecurity.
“That incessant attacks on farmers and farming communities will ultimately result in food shortages, artificial scarcity and hampering of the drive of the Federal Government to diversify the nation’s economy through agriculture,” he said.
Also speaking on behalf of the Benue caucus, Mr. Tarkighir called on the federal government to show commitment to the Benue State’s anti open-grazing law by compelling relevant security agencies to comply with the enforcement and implementation of the law.
“The federal government should direct the security agencies to not only secure peace but also bring the culprits to book,” he said.
Earlier during the plenary, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, condemned the killings in Benue and some parts of the country, describing it as “senseless”.
“From the senseless killings in Rivers State, to the killing rampages in Benue, Taraba, Kaduna, Zamfara, Adamawa, Edo and other States, our dear country is now being painted red with the blood of the innocents on account of unremitting bedlam callously promoted by cold hearted merchants of death,” he said.
He commiserated with the families of the deceased and affected states.
Meanwhile, Dino Melaye, the All Progressives Congress senator for Kogi West, yesterday lamented what he called the slow response by the Federal Government and security agencies to the killings in Benue State.
Mr. Melaye criticised the response by the political and security authorities at the Senate Plenary while speaking on a motion on ‘Security Infrastructure in Nigeria; An Emergency Visit to Benue State’.
“Mr. President, this is the voice of a human witness of Nigeria calling for justice. Mr. President, what happened in Benue State has shown like never before that in this country, we live in perilous times. We live in times where justice is the most scarce commodity in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“What we demand is not a lackadaisical approach from the Federal Government. This issue has been approached with kid gloves. If this happens in the United States of America, the lives of over 70 Americans murdered in cold blood including unborn children and women, will President Trump be comfortable in the White House without paying critical attention to psychologically assuage the pain of the people?
“The Federal Government, the security agencies are extremely lackadaisical about the issue. If we don’t begin to give justice where it is needed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, be it in Taraba or in Benue, be it in Enugu or Ogbomosho. Justice from North to South, from East to West, if we don’t give justice, we will be inviting a political and insecurity tsunami that we may not be able to curtail,” he said.
Mr. Melaye called on President Muhammadu Buhari, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and the Senate to “ring the bell of justice” and demanded that reports from committees set up to investigate the killings be implemented.
“The president must be tough enough to take bold decisions on this matter. .”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday, in Abuja, mandated its Committee on National Security and Intelligence to investigate the alleged missing $44 million from the vault of the National Intelligence Agency.
The committee was also mandated to probe the controversy surrounding the appointment of the new Director-General of the agency, Rufai Abubakar.
The resolution followed the unanimous adoption of a motion under matters of urgent public importance by Hon. Diri Douye.
Moving the motion, Douye expressed concern that the NIA is enmeshed in another scandal barely two days after the new DG assumed office.
He said: “The nation is yet to recover from the shock of the `Ikoyigate Safe House’ scandal involving $43.4 million , N23.2 million naira and 27, 800 pounds, the report of which is yet to be made public.’’
The lawmaker also called for probe into the appointment of Abubakar as the new NIA.
According to Douye, the identity, nationality, citizenship and competence of the new DG, have became subject of public speculation and controversy.
He said: “The controversy surrounding the appointment and the cash scandal paint a poor picture of the country’s national security and diminishes the reputation of the agency.’’
Contributing, Hon. Toby Okechukwu said that the controversy was causing the country monumental embarrassment.
Okechukwu urged the committee to expedite action on the investigation and make its findings public.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two long trailers heading for Kano as it intensified efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to cannabis shipments from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and other suspects in coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.
According to the statement, the latest intelligence-led operation came barely one week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol concealed in the false-bottom compartment of a truck that entered Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said, “Ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through Benin Republic into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.”
He added that one of the two trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor.
Babafemi said, “One of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on 2nd July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru.”
He further disclosed that another trailer was intercepted two days later on the same route.
“Two days later, 4th July, NDLEA operatives acting on processed intelligence successfully tracked and recovered the second trailer from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while heading to Kano. A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu arrested,” the statement read.
According to Babafemi, investigations established a link between the three intercepted consignments.
He said, “Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on 21st June, 2nd July and 4th July belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.”
The agency also intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Babafemi said, “Two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.70 kilograms have been intercepted at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. The cargoes, which arrived the Lagos airport from Canada in cartons with ‘Odugwu’ boldly written on them, came aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on 24th June and 3rd July respectively.”
He said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after arriving at a logistics company to take delivery of the consignments.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has denied claims that it has commenced registration for a purported ?50,000 National Support Allowance.
The ministry, in a public notice posted on its official X handle, yesterday, described messages, links and websites advertising the alleged programme as fraudulent.
It urged Nigerians to disregard such claims and verify information only through official government channels.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has NOT commenced registration for any ?50,000 National Support Allowance,” the ministry said.
It added, “Disregard fraudulent messages, links and websites claiming otherwise. Verify any info only through official govt channels.”
The alert is in response to a circulating scam flyer that falsely claims the program is ongoing under President Bola Tinubu’s directives.
The fake advertisement, which includes text in Hausa and English, directs victims to a suspicious website (kluspz.com) for applications.
The ministry’s warning comes amid heightened concerns over digital fraud targeting vulnerable populations seeking social support.
Similar scams have previously surfaced around programs like N-Power, prompting questions from citizens in replies to the official post.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed its preparedness for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, hinted at this while making his remarks at the commissioning of the Comrade Godwin Abumisi Pensioners Legacy House and Multipurpose Hall in Abuja.
Ajaero said it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
He advised workers and pensioners to get prepared for the ideological and economic battles that lie ahead.
According to the NLC president, “The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) is one of the proud affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Therefore, your struggle is our struggle, and your welfare remains a priority for the organised labour movement.
“We are currently in the preparatory stages for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
“However, let me state unequivocally that it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
“Accordingly, the Nigeria Labour Congress will not only push for a new national minimum wage but will also demand the establishment of a national minimum pension. It is a historical injustice that men and women who devoted their youth, strength and productive years to the service of this nation should be condemned to live below the poverty line after retirement.”
Ajaero noted that the cost of living has risen astronomically as food, healthcare and transportation have become increasingly unaffordable.
“We cannot continue to allow our senior citizens to survive on pensions that have become poverty wages. Every retiree deserves to live with dignity after decades of faithful service to the nation,” he said.
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He said the completion of the project should serve as a clarion call to all workers and lovers of the masses.
“We must not only build physical structures but also build a strong movement capable of compelling government to honour its commitments,” he said.
Ajaero further stated: “We will continue to demand the immediate payment of all outstanding pension arrears and the implementation of a pension regime that guarantees every retiree a life of dignity and security.
“Together, we shall continue to fight until every Nigerian worker and pensioner receives the justice, respect and welfare they deserve.”