Crime
Qatar-based businessman, others to spend New Year in custody over drug trafficking
..As NDLEA intercepts drug consignment going to bandits in Kebbi, Zamfara, arrests supplier
Barely hours to the new year, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a Qatar-based businessman, Agu Evidence Amobi, and one other, Uchegbu Onyebuchi Obi with consignments of psychoactive substances at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos.
While Amobi was arrested on Saturday 30th December at the departure point of terminal 2 of the MMIA on his way to Doha, Qatar on a Qatar Airways flight, Obi was taken into custody same day following the seizure of a consignment of 72,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, which he attempted shipping to Kano on a local flight.
Amobi who claimed he’s been living and working in Doha, Qatar for over 10 years was caught with 1.30kg cannabis sativa concealed in a bag of foodstuff.
He claimed he bought the substance in Enugu to deliver in Doha to enable him raise enough funds to pay his rents in Doha and Nigeria and school fees of his three children.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the domestic wing of the airport intercepted
a carton containing a total of 72,000 pills of tramadol 250mg with a gross weight of 38.50kg.
This was closely followed with the arrest of Uchegbu Onyebuchi Obi who brought the consignment to the airport for shipment to Kano.
On Christmas day 25th December in Yobe state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Nguru-Gashua road intercepted the trio of Musa Sani, Mohammed Ibrahim and Adamu Usman in truck conveying 39 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 15.7kg and 128,500 pills of opioids.
Follow up operations the following day 26th December led to the arrest of the actual owner of the cannabis consignment, Ali Ibrahim (a.k.a Ramos) in Geidam where additional 208 blocks of the same substance were recovered from his house, bringing the total to 247 blocks weighing 94.74kg, while the owner of the seized opioids, Mustapha Goni (a.k.a Lolo) was equally arrested.
In Imo state, NDLEA operatives on Christmas eve, Sunday 24th December while on patrol along Owerri – Onitsha expressway intercepted a commercial bus driven by Peter Orji, 42, with 400 bottles of codeine syrup; 7, 590 pills of opioids including tramadol 225mg heading to Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.
While David Michael, 52, was arrested at Unguwa Ukku area of Kano on Sunday 24th December with 49 blocks of cannabis weighing 42.6kg, Umar Abdullahi, 27, was nabbed with 27, 350 pills of opioids at Gadar Tamburawa area of the city same day.
This is even as 45-year-old Yusuf Yahaya was arrested same Christmas eve along Lagos-Ilorin expressway with 31.00kg of compressed cannabis in a commercial bus coming from Ibadan, Oyo state to Kebbi State.
Preliminary investigation revealed that he supplies illicit drugs to bandits in Kebbi and Zamfara axis.
The Commands across the country balanced their drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaigns to schools, markets, worship centres and communities.
Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture organised by Kano state command of NDLEA in collaboration with Kibiya LGA and District Head of Kibiya; WADA sensitisation lecture for students and staff of Ansar-ud-deen Grammar School, Surulere, Lagos as well as WADA advocacy lecture for muslim faithful at Iworo Central Mosque, Ajido Olorunda LCDA, Lagos state, among others.
While commending the efforts of the officers and men of MMIA, Yobe, Kano, Kwara and Imo Commands of the Agency for jobs well done in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) tasked them and their compatriots nationwide not to rest on the achievements of 2023 but continue to raise the bar in their offensive action against drug barons and cartels with an equipoise of intense WADA advocacy campaigns in the new year. He wished all officers and men as well as their families, stakeholders and the general public a rewarding and fulfilling new year.
Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 31st December 2023
Crime
Thieves cart away cows meant for church harvest celebration
Suspected thieves have carted away two cows from the premises of the Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Testimony Parish in the Egbeda area of Oyo state.
In a post published on its Facebook page, the church said the stolen cows, bought at N1.9 million, were meant for its annual adult harvest thanksgiving celebration.
The incident happened on November 11 as the church prepared for the celebration slated for November 17.
After days of searching for the missing cows, the church solicited for financial contributions to buy new cows for the harvest celebration.
“Dear Celestians and The General public, This 2 Huge Cows was stolen where it was Tied in The Church Premises at CCC Testimony parish Elerumoke Area, Egbeda, Iyana Ajia and its meant for slaughter for the 9th adult harvest thanksgiving of the church coming up this Sunday 17th November 2024,” the church wrote on Facebook.
“We hereby solicit for your prayer for quick recovery of this harvest thanksgiving sacrificial materials.
“Anybody with useful information on how to recover these cows or any means of assistance to make the harvest thanksgiving a beautiful one should contact the parish shepherd.”
Crime
NDLEA arrests businessman for smuggling cocaine through ingestion
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has announced the arrest of a businessman caught with a large quantity of cocaine.
Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy, revealed the arrest on Sunday via his X account, accompanied by a video displaying the seized contraband.
The businessman, whose identity has not been disclosed, reportedly ingested a substantial quantity of cocaine in an attempt to avoid detection.
Babafemi wrote, “Detty December: Before you swallow those drugs, please remember that the new @ndlea_nigeria has the capacity and capability to catch you.
“The businessman who excreted this amount of cocaine will not only spend Christmas behind bars but also risks a life sentence at the end of his trial. Beware!”
Crime
UK teenager risks 20 years in Dubai prison for sex with 17-year-old girl
An 18-year-old British boy has been arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl in Dubai.
Detained in Dubai, a group of UAE legal experts, said the teenager was on holiday with his parents when he met the girl — who is now 18 — at the same hotel.
The teenagers who are both from London were said to have made plans to continue their romance when they returned to the UK.
The group, which campaigns to help people it says have suffered injustice in the UAE, said the young man was charged because the girl’s mother found their chats and pictures back in the UK.
It was gathered that the woman subsequently contacted police in Dubai and he was arrested.
The boy however claimed he was unaware that the girl was younger than him when they met. The teenager also disclosed that he was in police custody for three days and was unable to contact his parents.
“We had a wonderful time together. We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict,” he told Detained in Dubai.
“My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers. She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.
“When she left, I couldn’t wait to see her again when I got home. Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door. They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I was frightened and my parents were terrified.”
The teenager, it is understood, could face up to two decades in prison owing to Dubai’s strict laws regarding sex outside marriage.
Radha Stirling, chief executive of the campaign group, said Dubai recently legalised out-of-wedlock sex for tourists but “still hosts a strict Islamic legal system”.
“Sex outside marriage is legal for tourists but only if both parties are over 18. The girl was just a few months younger than Marcus and he didn’t know that at the time,” Stirling said.
“Since his arrest, she has turned 18. This is not something Dubai should be prosecuting.
“Parents will be scared to take their older teenagers on vacation with them where they could end up losing their lives over behaviour that’s completely legal in their own countries.”
The teenager and his family have called on foreign secretary David Lammy, their local MP, to intervene in the case.
The teenager is no longer being held in a police cell but is unable to leave the country, with his family facing bills of £2,000 for Airbnb accommodation until his case is resolved.
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