News
Rivers Is Crime-Free, Says CP
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Olugbenga Adepoju, has declared that Rivers State is crime-free following the hitch-free 66th Nigerian Bar Association Annual General Conference in Port Harcourt.
Adepoju stated this at the Police Officers’ Mess, during a dinner organised in honour of police lawyers from various zones and commands that participated in the just concluded NBA conference in Port Harcourt.
The Police boss said the successful hosting of the NBA conference in the State was a clear indication that Rivers State was safe contrary to negative impressions being created in some quarters about the security situation in the State.
He said the Police Command had made elaborate security arrangements to ensure the safety of conferees and other visitors during the conference, with personnel deployed to various parts of the State.
According to him, the presence of thousands of lawyers from across the country in the State had helped to demonstrate to the world that the State was safe and capable of hosting major national events.
“You have brought the conference to Rivers, and we are very happy. It contradicts the negative impression that Rivers is not safe, and this will show the whole world that for it to hold here, it means Rivers is safe and we are working,” he said.
The Commissioner added that the Command had “locked down” the State since the arrival of the conferees, with security personnel deployed to various locations to ensure adequate protection and prevent criminal activities.
Adepoju, who commended the police legal officers for their contributions to the administration of justice, said the dinner was organised specifically to appreciate and celebrate their efforts.
“So, we put everything in place to make you enjoy yourselves and to make the State safe. We have locked down the State since you came, with deployments to every nook and cranny of the State,” he said.
Earlier, the State Legal Officer, Directorate of Legal Services, Rivers State Police Command, CSP Stephen Onwochei, described the dinner as more than a social gathering, saying it provided an opportunity for stakeholders to strengthen professional relationships and promote justice and the rule of law.
Onwochei said policing and the legal profession were critical institutions in a civilised society, stressing that where law and law enforcement worked in harmony, society would enjoy peace, security and development.
Also speaking, the Director, Directorate of Force Legal Services, Force Headquarters, Abuja, CP Aremu Silas, said the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, who previously served as Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, remained appreciative of the contributions of the Directorate of Legal Services in the Command.
Silas urged legal officers in other State Commands to emulate the performance of their Rivers counterparts, noting that the IGP had charged police lawyers across the country to improve their professional performance and ensure diligent prosecution of civil cases.
“I will implore the legal departments of various States to emulate the performance of the Directorate of Legal Services of Rivers State. The IGP wants us to up our game. He knows that we cannot win all cases, but we should attend to them and diligently prosecute our civil cases,” Silas said.
By: King Onunwor
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted consignments of captagon, popularly known as the “Jihadi drug,” and millions of opioid tablets worth over N6.2bn at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The agency disclosed this in a statement released yesterday by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the NDLEA, operatives at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, arrested a 49-year-old cross-border drug kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana, aboard an African World Airlines flight.
The statement partly read, “NDLEA intercepted consignments of captagon, widely known as ‘Jihadi drug’ and millions of opioid pills worth over N6.2 billion at the MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos.
The captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on Saturday, August 22, 2026, following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border kingpin, Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra, Ghana aboard an African World Airlines flight.
“A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called ‘Ghana Soap,” led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug worth over N1.5 billion concealed within blocks of soap.
“Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.”
In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives recovered 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40kg and an estimated street value of more than N4.6bn.
The drugs were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA after no one showed up to claim them.
The agency said three of the consignments contained 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, which arrived on RwandAir flights from Bangladesh.
The fourth consignment contained 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol, weighing 1,972kg, and arrived aboard Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The consignments, which had been placed under surveillance, were formally retrieved following a joint examination by NDLEA operatives, the Nigeria Customs Service and other stakeholders on Friday, August 28.
Also, a 31-year-old United States returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on August 19 at Ikate, Lekki, Lagos, after he allegedly showed up to take delivery of 3.350kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt and recovered a fireproof iron safe containing different illicit drugs.
The agency said the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, August 25, leading to the recovery of 237g of Colorado cannabis, 316g of cocaine and 10g of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects—Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36—were arrested on Friday, August 28, along the Ipele-Idoani Road with 728kg of skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects, Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu Forest on Wednesday, August 26, with 341kg of the same substance.
Similarly, in Delta State, more than 176,000 pills of assorted opioids, including tramadol and Molly, were recovered in two interdiction operations conducted between Wednesday, August 26, and Friday, August 28.
Commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands for the operations, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa also directed the operatives to maintain the momentum against drug traffickers who, he said, were becoming increasingly desperate and exploring different methods to move illicit consignments.
He specifically warned against attempts to conceal drugs in everyday household items.
“Drug traffickers are desperate to explore every means, including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their illicit consignments,” Marwa said.
He urged NDLEA personnel to remain vigilant and sustain their efforts against drug trafficking across the country.
The Management of Kenule Beeson Saro Wiwa Polytechnic (Kenpoly) says grossly inadequate infrastructures in the institution limits academic learning and staff performances.
The Rector of the polytechnic, Dr George Chile Wadike, disclosed this while briefing newsmen on the 25th to 32nd Convocation, held last Saturday.
He said the school’s infrastructures were at various levels of decay and limits its operations.
Wadike outlined inadequate infrastructures in the polytechnic to include lack of adequate classrooms, offices, furniture, laboratories and workshop, Studios, Resource Center and sporting facilities.
The Rector also decried the spate of epileptic power supply in the institution, and appealed to the state government to urgently intervene and rescue the institution from years of power outage as the Polytechnic exclusively depends more on diesel powered generators.
He also appealed to the government to improve on its security on the campuses and its environs to safe students lives and property.
Describing the convocation as an achievement, Wadike said his administration had cleared eight years of backlogged of convocations.
“We have cleared eight years of convocation arrears in the Polytechnic, making the students, staff and the entire Polytechnic community happy,” he said.
By: Chinedu Wosu
The Federal Government has expressed concern over the political and security situation in the Republic of Niger following an attempted coup in the country’s capital, Niamey.
The government said the development was particularly concerning given Nigeria’s close historical, cultural and fraternal ties with Niger.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oluwafemi Adeniyi, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.
“The Government of Nigeria views with deep concern the current political and security situation in the Republic of Niger,” the statement said.
Niger’s ruling military junta had said it was back in control after mutinous soldiers clashed with security forces in Niamey on Saturday.
The clashes reportedly occurred around sensitive sites, including the presidential palace and a military base at the international airport, while the state broadcaster, Tele Sahel, was briefly taken off air.
The junta described the incident as a “destabilization plot” and said it had been contained.
The Federal Government said it was keen to see peace, security, democracy and development prevail in Niger, noting that stability in the country would have a direct and positive impact on Nigeria, the sub-region and the Sahel.
The statement added, “Any resort to the use of force to settle political differences detracts from this objective.
“It therefore urges the government and people of Niger to work together towards an inclusive and participatory return to stability and constitutional order in the interest of the country, regional peace and stability.”
