News

Curb Insecurity, Drugs Before 2023 Polls, CNG Tasks FG

Published

5 years ago

January 3, 2022

The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has called on the Federal Government to intensify efforts to curb the general and pervasive insecurity across the country as well as the rampant intake of drugs and dangerous substances in order to have a successful 2023 general election.
This is even as the Katsina State chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has described Governor Aminu Bello Masari’s call for citizens to bear arms for protection as a clear indication that the government has failed.
In a statement, yesterday, the CNG spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, said that Nigerians expect the government to bring a conclusive end to the daunting security challenges that characterised the country last year.
According to the statement, “In the North, especially, government, should, with the entire national resolve behind its efforts, work to achieve final disengagement, disarmament, demobilisation, reintegration and reconstruction within the next few months. Unless this is done as quickly as possible, the 2023 elections would be greatly threatened and that would, in turn, affect the nation’s democratic progress and set the country back several decades.”
It explained that it expected the Federal Government to review and improve the current structure of the national security assets, increase the number of boots on the ground, improve quality of equipment and greater synergy with the communities.
The CNG advised state governments in the north to listen to advice, design a uniform approach to the insecurity situation with the full involvement of the communities.
CNG opined that the drug situation in the North is one of the most serious social and security challenges facing the region and the country today.
It stated that no nation can aspire to greatness or seek to remain secure and safe when its youth and the productive segments of society were left to indulge in self-destructive practices like drug and substance abuse.
It said the serious challenges the region is faced with ought not to be treated with the level of levity and condescension shown by the governors of the affected northern states with a view of finding a way out to the problem.
Suleiman suggested that the security problem must be confronted collectively with the entire will and resolve of the people behind the effort if it was to build on the current successes by the gallant troops in the North-East in order to ensure a peaceful society.
The statement explained that failure to take necessary steps would indubitably mean that every effort made in isolation would defeat all the endeavours, and render the task of ending the crisis more difficult and futile.
It called on all to become stakeholders and be committed actors in the struggle to free the society and the country of the debilitating problem.
Similarly, the Katsina State chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has described Governor Aminu Masari’s call on citizens to bear arms for protection as a clear indication that the government has failed.
The CNG North-West Coordinator, Jamilu Charanchi, while briefing newsmen in the state, yesterday, said “without a doubt, citizens acquiring weapons in the name of self-defence will increase bandit cells, lead to greater instability and deepen insecurity.”
He added, “Your Excellency Sir, you should perish your thought of self-defence and admit to the great people of Katsina that you are no longer in control and cannot foster solutions to their societal problems, then, seek for a genuine help or kindly resign. The state and the good people of the state need and deserve better governance.”
According to the CNG, the Masari-led government “is currently displaying its incapacity or unwillingness to tame the monster of insecurity, thereby exposing Nigerian security forces to danger and sending civilians to early graves.”
On the way out of the insecurity bedevilling the state, “CNG implores the government to fight unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy, holistically and with all sincerity of purpose which is the tripod upon which banditry has been nurtured to its current monstrous stage.”
The CNG further said aside from the challenges of border porosity, “Katsina State is leading in two of the most influential variables, triggering criminality and other social vices in the country, unemployment and poverty.”
While using data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for the last quarter of 2020, showing that “Katsina has 25.5per cent unemployment rate with about 438,808 people unemployed, CNG described the predicament as a sign of danger resulting from the failure of effective leadership.”
In this regard, Charanchi said, “it is ridiculous to think of arming hungry and angry people of a state like Katsina with a poverty rate of close to 80per cent, making it second poorest state in Nigeria and expect to achieve positive results. How will you expect an already vulnerable civilian who has been subjected to bad governance presented with an opportunity to possess arm end banditry?”
The CNG challenged the government to wake up to their responsibilities, saying that “Governance is not just about enjoying the perks of office and shifting responsibilities to the vulnerable but rather a selfless service that requires commitment, dedication and the willingness to systemically guide once followers in the right direction. There is therefore the need for leaders to rise up and address the root cause of banditry. Weapon proliferation is already a problem and we should not add to it.”
While wishing Masari a happy New Year, the CNG urged him to pay more attention to the fight to alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment, economic hardship and most importantly, prioritize the lives of people most of which sacrificed a lot to see him in office.

News

NDLEA Intercepts 1.63m Tramadol Pills, Arrests 80-Year-Old Suspect

Published

3 days ago

July 20, 2026

The Tide

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.

News

FG Alerts Nigerians Of N50,000 Allowance Registration Scam

Published

3 days ago

July 20, 2026

The Tide

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.

News

Minimum Wage Review: We’re Battle Ready For Major National Struggle -NLC

Published

3 days ago

July 20, 2026

The Tide

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 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.”