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NDLEA officers undergo diving training to curb cocaine shipments in Nigeria

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The Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa has said recent training of the agency’s Marine Command officers in diving would discourage large shipments of cocaine to Nigeria.

Marwa stated this while receiving a report of the training from the Agency’s Director of Seaports Operations, Deputy Commander General of Narcotics (DCGN), Omolade Faboyede.

This is contained in a statement by the Director of Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Tuesday in Abuja. He said the new capability would send a strong message to international drug cartels that they have no place to hide their illicit consignments on any ship or vessel coming to Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the officers have gone through basic diving, advanced open-water diving and full-face mask diving. NAN also reports that eight officers were selected from four countries including two from Nigeria by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC).

They have undergone the certification training in Bombinhas City, Brazil in two phases; first in November 2023 and then in July 2024. According to the UNODC, the diving training was initiated to strengthen the fight against drug trafficking and transnational crime activities for the four countries: Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Nigeria and Senegal.

The second phase of the training was to qualify professionals certified in basic and advanced diving in public safety diving to conduct ship hull searches, enforce the law and ensure public safety in combating transnational drug trafficking.

Marwa commended the two NDLEA officers, who participated in the training and certification programme for their exemplary performance.

He said, “Their new ability to dive into the sea to search ship hulls will no doubt discourage global drug networks from attempting to send any large consignment to Nigeria.

“This is so, knowing full well that our men now have the capacity to search every nook and cranny of ships and vessels coming to Nigeria,” he said.

The NDLEA boss said the agency would continue to be steps ahead of drug cartels in skills and capability to ensure that they have no means to smuggle illicit drugs into Nigeria.

“We will also continue to expose our officers, men and women to training and the use of modern technological tools.

“This is in our determined bid to keep our country safe by curbing the menace of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking,” he added.

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Police probe video of officer in altercation with elderly woman in Lagos

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The Lagos police command says it has launched an investigation into a viral video of an officer involved in an altercation with an elderly woman.

POLICE COMMENCE INVESTIGATION INTO VIDEO OF POLICE OFFICER IN ALTERCATION WITH ELDERLY WOMAN

On Sunday, a video showing a police officer manhandling an elderly woman in her car began circulating on social media.

The officer was said to have demanded N250,000 from the woman which she refused to pay, before the altercation began.

Benjamin Hundeyin, the police spokesperson in Lagos, in a statement on Wednesday, condemned the action of the officer, noting that the inspector and his supervising deputy superintendent have been brought in for questioning.

Hundeyin said the incident took place in the Alagbado area of Lagos in the first week of September.

He assured the public that the investigation would be “swift, thorough and conclusive”.

“The command condemns the unprofessional conduct of the Inspector as it does not represent the ethics and operational standards of the Nigeria Police Force,” the statement reads.

“The command equally assures Lagosians that the investigation will be swift, thorough and conclusive.

“We will ensure that the officers are disciplined as appropriate, and members of the public are updated accordingly.”

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EFCC besieged Kogi lodge to forcefully arrest Yahaya Bello, says his media office

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The media office of Yahaya Bello has alleged that on Wednesday night, operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) laid siege to the Kogi Government Lodge in Abuja, in a bid to forcefully arrest the former governor.

The claim comes hours after Bello’s media office said the ex-governor had honoured the anti-graft agency’s invitation.

The EFCC had immediately denied that Bello was in its custody, restating that the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain was still a wanted man.

However, Bello’s media office responded by saying the politician was not interrogated when he visited the EFCC office and was turned back.

“He was accompanied to the commission’s office by Gov Usman Ododo,” the media team had said.

‘THEY SHOT SPORADICALLY’

In a statement issued on Wednesday night, Ohiare Michael, director of the Yahaya Bello Media Office, said the operatives shot sporadically during the raid.

“It has come to our notice that people suspected to be operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, are currently around the Kogi Government Lodge, Asokoro in an attempt to forcefully arrest former Governor Yahaya Bello,” the statement reads.

“They were shooting sporadically.

“It was reported earlier that the former Governor went to the EFCC Office voluntarily, but the commission told him to leave and come at a later date, only to mount an attack on the Kogi Government facility in Asokoro.

“We want to place it on record that the EFCC should be held accountable if anything untoward happens to him.

“Tonight’s attack was needless as the former Governor made himself available to the EFCC in their office for interrogation.

“The EFCC had no question to ask Alhaji Yahaya Bello in the morning, but suddenly, they are out to arrest him.

“This action is condemnable. They have displayed the very reason many Nigerians believe they are fighting political battles instead of the mandate to fight corruption.

“This action reflects much more than a fight against corruption. We will keep Nigerians posted.”

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Geological agency asks residents not to panic as earth tremors rock Abuja

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The Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA) says there is no need for residents of the federal capital territory (FCT) to panic over recent earth tremors.

Residents of Mpape and Katampe communities in the FCT recently expressed fears following earth tremors that reportedly began on Saturday.

An earth tremor is a relatively small or short-lived movement of the earth’s surface. It is caused by the same forces that produce earthquakes.

In a statement on Wednesday, Olusegun Ige, NGSA director-general, said the agency monitored the tremors and found them to be low.

He added that the tremors do not pose any threats.

“The Monitoring Station (NGSA-5) at Katampe has been capturing several significant ground motions with high moment magnitudes (Mw) in the past five days, beginning from September 13, 2024 till date,” the statement reads.

“Only one mild event was recorded on September 13th. Six of these events were captured on the 14th of September, while over 21 events were captured on the 15th with higher intensities.

“More than twenty events were recorded on the 16th of September. The intensity and frequency of the tremor appear to increase from the 13th to 16th September. There are a few weak events recorded today, 17th September.

“Preliminary analysis of the waveforms showed that the sources of the ground motions are less than 5 km away from the monitoring station.

“NGSA team also visited the affected areas for on-the-spot assessments of the events. From the accounts of the residents of the affected areas, the observations by the NGSA team, and findings from earlier interpretations of the airborne geophysical data over the area and adjoining areas, the following conclusions were made:

“The tremors are a result of accumulated stress along the identified faults and released seismic energy, which may have traveled through associated fractures to areas where the tremors were felt around the FCT.

“There are multiple epicenters associated with the recent tremor. Most of the epicenters are located northeast of the NGSA-5 Seismic Station around Mpape axis, while a few are located southwest of the Station around Katampe axis.

“The intensities of the tremors are weak to light, ranging from III – IV on the Modified Mercalli Scale, and pose a very low level threat.”

The agency added that it is closely monitoring the situation.

“The residents of Mpape, Katampe, Maitama, and other areas where the tremors were felt are advised not to panic as the tremors can be generally described as low,” the statement adds.

“The Agency is keeping a close monitoring of the situation and will provide updates as may become necessary.

“The general public should also be aware that the NGSA Seismic Stations are being monitored in real time to ensure prompt alerts on any major event.”

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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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