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NDLEA uncovers Meth Lab in Lagos residential community, recovers packs of illicit drug

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. Intercepts UK-bound skunk in native black soap; tramadol pills in women hair

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have uncovered a secret laboratory producing deadly illicit substance, Methamphetamine, in a residential community located in Ikeja Lagos state where already packaged sachets of the drug and various precursor chemicals used in the production were recovered.


The clandestine laboratory located at No. 4 Bode Oluwo Street, Mende, Maryland Ikeja was stormed by anti-narcotics officers of the Agency on Tuesday 6th June after credible intelligence and surveillance confirmed the illicit substance was being produced in the duplex building.

At the end of the search, one kilogram of already produced and packaged methamphetamine, quantities of precursor chemicals and other items used for the production of the deadly drug were recovered from the house while efforts are on to apprehend the fleeing owner of the house.


In the same vein, officers of the Lagos Command of the Agency the previous day, Monday 5th June arrested two suspects: Wasiu Saliu and Afolabi Banjo with 247 kilograms of skunk at Oyingbo area of Lagos while Tijani Damilola was nabbed at Isheri with 12.5 litres of skuchies and 98kg of cannabis sativa belonging to a fleeing suspect recovered at Akerele area of Agege just as 12.5kg of the same substance was seized from Adebowale Babatunde after his arrest at Mushin on Thursday 8th June.


Meanwhile, a consignment of 3.20kg skunk concealed in native black soap heading to the United Kingdom has been intercepted by NDLEA operatives at the NAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos on Wednesday 7th June and a freight agent involved in the attempt to export the illicit drug, Olowokudejo Oladele Tonyi arrested.


Similarly, a bid to export 3,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg concealed inside women hair attachments to Monrovia, Liberia, by a cargo agent, Akinwale Taiwo Bolutife, through the MMIA was thwarted by operatives who arrested him during the outward clearance of passengers at departure gate of terminal 2 of the Lagos airport.


In Benue, a suspect, Emmanuel Onah was arrested during a routine stop and search of vehicles at the Vandeikya check point with a total of 61, 790 pills of tramadol seized from him on Thursday 8th June, while another suspect, Ikenna Jonathan Udeze was nabbed at Otuo-Agor, Owan East LGA, Edo state with 208kg cannabis hidden in his Toyota Camry car marked ABJ 117 MR.


No less than 235 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 23.5 litres and 1,500 pills of Tramadol and Swinol were recovered on Friday 9th June from Agara Ogbonna, 35, along Owerri – Onitsha expressway, Imo state, just as operatives in Ondo state arrested two suspects: Friday Augustine, 25, and Segun Akintudoye, 20, with 30kg cannabis at B-Ali Junction, Idanre and 10.4kg of the same substance recovered from the home of a fleeing suspect at Oke Odowo, Idanre on Tuesday 6th June when operatives raided some drug joints in the town.


In Kebbi state, Alin Bala, 45, and Danzaki Alhaji, 52, were arrested on Thursday 8th June at Goran Maiyaki, Gwandu LGA with 5.9kg cannabis and 3,792 tablets of diazepam while 18-year-old Babangida Mande was nabbed on Friday 9th June along Mararaban Yauri-Kebbi road, with 6kg cannabis and 658 tablets of diazepam. 

In Osun state, a total of 115.9kg cannabis was recovered from Adewole Abidemi, 31, who was arrested at Araromi Oke Odo in Ife South LGA; Raji Musa, 25, and Alominile Folashade, 34, nabbed at Gbokuta village in the same LGA on Monday 5th June.


While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Imo, Kebbi, Osun, Benue, Edo and Ondo Commands for the seizures and arrests of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) charged them and their counterparts across the country to remain vigilant and keep their focus on the corporate goal of the Agency.

Crime

Cameroonian profs jailed for ‘sedition’ seek Nigeria’s intervention

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Six Cameroonian professors in Nigerian universities, alongside four others imprisoned in Cameroon, have appealed to the house of representatives for help.

The academics said they were arrested in Nigeria on the orders of the Cameroonian authorities over “frivolous allegations of plotting to destabilise the government” of President Paul Biya.

The professors were meeting to discuss the welfare of Cameroonian refugees who had fled to Nigeria, when they were arrested on January 5, 2018.

The academics, who claimed to be refugees and registered asylum seekers in Nigeria, alleged that they were illegally arrested and repatriated to Cameroon.

They were reportedly tried at a military tribunal and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Kondengui maximum security detention facility in Cameroon.

In March 2019, a federal high court in Abuja ruled that the arrest and subsequent detention of the academics was illegal, unconstitutional and violated the deportees’ rights as guaranteed by the Nigerian constitution.

The UN Human Rights Special Procedures Working Group had asked the Cameroonian government to release the academics over rights violations.

‘OUR CLIENTS WERE ABDUCTED’

In March, the academics petitioned the house of representatives, seeking its intervention.

Addressing journalists on Tuesday in Abuja, Joseph Fru, counsel to the academics, said his clients were illegally imprisoned by the Cameroonian authorities.

“There is a clarification that we need to make that is fundamental and cardinal. They (our clients) were abducted. They were not arrested,” he said.

“When you say someone is arrested — there is a legal course for them to be picked up by the forces of law and order.

“And in a normal arrest situation, you have probable cause that you are being suspected of committing a crime and before you get to that point, there has to be a procedure you follow to get either an arrest warrant or search warrant that may lead to their apprehension.

“But when someone arbitrarily, without any legal course, is picked up and then held for as long as they were held in Nigeria before being sent to Cameroon, that is called an abduction.

“An abduction does not end when we know where they are. That illegal act continues and abides with them until that illegality is cured. And to this point, that illegality has not been cured, and that is why we are still in prison.

“The second thing is that they were not repatriated. You repatriate someone when you go through a legal channel and you exhaust all the legal processes and the court decides that they go back to where they came from to answer in that jurisdiction.

“Before you repatriate someone, there has to be a bilateral treaty that is observed. None of that in this case.”

Fru, who was flanked by family members of the academics, said relevant government agencies of the Nigerian government were missing at a hearing organised by the house of representatives committee on public petition on Tuesday.

He said the government agencies include the office of the attorney-general of the federation, secretary to the government of the federation, ministry of foreign affairs, National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Department of State Services (DSS), and United Nations (UN) high commission country representative.

Fru expressed hopes that the house would intervene and secure the release of the professors.

“We adjourned for 11 June, 2024 because the committee is not happy with the fact that the last time, they were elements of the government of the executive arm that were required to be at the hearing but none of them showed up,” he added.

“So motions were moved and it was adopted that these entities should necessarily appear in the next hearing so that resolution to this can be taken.

“In the event they do not show up, the committee is ready to move forward. How they move forward depends on their deliberation and that is above my pay grade.

“The chairman said they were going to give these entities a last chance to appear so they can have enough information to go by and come up with a resolution.”

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Crime

NDLEA arrests 80, convicts 12 drug dealers, seizes 3,000kg drugs in FCT

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested over 80 suspected drug dealers with over 3,000kg of drugs in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) between January and March.

Kabir Tsukuwa, Commander of Narcotics (CN), NDLEA, FCT Command, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

Tsakuwa said that over 50 suspects had been prosecuted adding that out of the number, 12 had been convicted and sentenced to different jail terms. He said that the command had been going after the drug peddlers and the records were there to show from the arrest and seizure over the years.

“If not for the continuous effort of the agency and the command in particular, the drug situation in FCT and even the entire country would have been worst,” he said.

The NDLEA commander said that the current situation of drug abuse in the FCT was not a peculiar one as it was same world over. Tsakuwa said that drug abuse was a major concern to all countries of the world.

He said that all regional and global bodies like ECOWAS, EU and UNODC were advocating for global concerted efforts to deal with the challenge of drug trafficking and abuse. He said: “the drug situation varies from countries to countries, states to states and even localities.”

According to him, the command has maintained consistent raids of drug joints within the FCT, even though, that cannot be said to have been dismantled completely but it is a continuous process.

“There is no society that is crime free, not even the developed world.

“In 2023 alone, we arrested over 500 suspects with over 7,000kg of assorted drug seizure and conviction of over 200 offenders.”

Tsakuwa said that the issue of drug abuse was serious, adding that Nigerians must join in the continuous fight against the drug menace. He emphasised that there was a strong nexus between drug abuse and other criminalities like kidnapping, insurgency, theft, armed robbery among others.

“When drug abuse and trafficking is dealt with, the rise in other criminalities will certainly drop.

“Although, we have had cases where we carry out operations of drug joints, but the next minute, they are back again.

“Be that as it may, we shall continue to give in our best to ensure sustainable action in our efforts.

“We shall not rest until we achieve our desired goal of drug free environment in the Federal Capital,” he added.

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Crime

Police arrests man strapped with bomb in Plateau bank

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Security operatives have apprehended a man strapped with Person Borne Improvised Explosive Device (SPBIED) inside a bank in Plateau.

Zagazola Makama, a counter-insurgency publication focused on the Lake Chad region, said the man was nabbed at a bank in Dadin Kowa town in Jos South LGA of the state.

The publication said the incident occurred on May 13.

Intelligence sources told Makama that the man planned to detonate the explosives at the bank but was spotted by a vigilante operative who raised the alarm.

The publication said after the suspect was apprehended, an angry mob surrounded him and insisted he should be killed.

Makama could not confirm if the suspect is connected to the fighters of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP).

The publication added that the suspect is in the custody of the police and currently undergoing investigation.

Nigeria has been battling insurgency for two decades, with suicide bombings, displacement of entire communities and kidnapping for ransom by the terrorists, recorded in that span.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said about 83 children — mostly girls — were used as human bombs in 2017 alone.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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