Deploy new skills, tools across airports operations, Marwa charges officers
By Ebinum Samuel
Selected Commanders and officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, have undergone series of trainings in Advance Passenger Information System (API) and Passenger Targeting/ Intelligence Gathering as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen NDLEA’s operational efficiency at the country’s major airports. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, which facilitated the trainings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and Abuja, the workshops were designed to enhance the capacity of the Agency’s Commands at Airports to target and intercept high-risk passengers, cargo and mail, to help combat illicit drug trafficking. They will also help to facilitate communication and coordination between countries of origin, transit and destination in order to destabilise illicit cross-border flows and criminal networks. While the Commander of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Strategic Command of NDLEA, ACGN Usman Ali Wadar and his counterpart at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, CN Mohammed Ajiya participated in the six-day training in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 13 other officers drawn from the MMIA and NAIA Commands took part in the five-day training that held in Abuja. They are all expected to impact the knowledge and skills acquired during the sessions on their other colleagues. The trainings were funded by the European Union, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States under the AIRCOP Airport Communication Project, implemented by the UNODC. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the facilitators: Ms. Fabienne Russel of UNODC and Anderson Leme Siqueira of Brazilian Customs Administration for taking their time to be in Abuja for the training after the engagement in Abidjan. He equally praised the two NDLEA Commanders and other officers who participated in the Abijan and Abuja training sessions for their interest and commitment. He charged them to immediately reflect the new skills and tools in their operations across the international airports in the country. Femi Babafemi Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja Friday 20th December 2024 Illicit drugs: NDLEA strengthens airport operations as officers undergo advanced trainings . Deploy new skills, tools across airports operations, Marwa charges officers Selected Commanders and officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, have undergone series of trainings in Advance Passenger Information System (API) and Passenger Targeting/ Intelligence Gathering as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen NDLEA’s operational efficiency at the country’s major airports. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC, which facilitated the trainings held in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire and Abuja, the workshops were designed to enhance the capacity of the Agency’s Commands at Airports to target and intercept high-risk passengers, cargo and mail, to help combat illicit drug trafficking. They will also help to facilitate communication and coordination between countries of origin, transit and destination in order to destabilise illicit cross-border flows and criminal networks.
While the Commander of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Strategic Command of NDLEA, ACGN Usman Ali Wadar and his counterpart at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja, CN Mohammed Ajiya participated in the six-day training in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 13 other officers drawn from the MMIA and NAIA Commands took part in the five-day training that held in Abuja. They are all expected to impact the knowledge and skills acquired during the sessions on their other colleagues.
The trainings were funded by the European Union, Australia, Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States under the AIRCOP Airport Communication Project, implemented by the UNODC. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) commended the facilitators: Ms. Fabienne Russel of UNODC and Anderson Leme Siqueira of Brazilian Customs Administration for taking their time to be in Abuja for the training after the engagement in Abidjan. He equally praised the two NDLEA Commanders and other officers who participated in the Abijan and Abuja training sessions for their interest and commitment. He charged them to immediately reflect the new skills and tools in their operations across the international airports in the country.
The FCT Police Command assures residents of its unwavering commitment to ensuring their safety and security throughout the Yuletide season.
As the festive period approaches, the Command urges all citizens to take proactive measures to secure their homes and surroundings, particularly those planning to travel or leave their residences unattended.To promote safety and prevent crime during this period, the FCT Police Command,through the spokeswoman, SP Josephine Adeh, offers the following safety tips: Light Up Your Surroundings: Ensure your homes and surroundings are adequately lit. Well-lit environments deter criminal activities and improve visibility. Maintain Clear Visibility: Remove visual obstructions such as overgrown grasses, bushes, or debris that may provide hiding spots for criminals. Stay Vigilant: Be alert and report any suspicious activities or unfamiliar persons loitering within your Area of Responsibility (AOR). Prompt reporting can prevent potential security threats. Engage Neighbors: If you plan to travel, inform your neighbors and ask them to keep an eye on your property. A watchful community can deter criminal activities and enhance security. Lock Up: Ensure all doors, windows, and gates are securely locked before leaving your home. Consider using additional security measures like alarms or surveillance cameras.
Avoid Sharing Travel Plans: Be discreet about your travel plans on social media or with acquaintances to avoid alerting potential thieves.Residents are advised to contact the police immediately via the Command’s emergency lines to report suspicious activities:- 08061581938- 08032003913- 07057337653The FCT Police Command will intensify patrols and vigilance throughout the festive season to ensure a safe environment for all. Cooperation and timely reporting by members of the public will go a long way in ensuring the safety of lives and property.Stay safe and enjoy the festivities!
Call him a double-barrelled personality and you will not be wrong. He is both an accomplished technocrat and a distinguished bureaucrat to wit. How else would one describe a professional architect of four full decades, who has also spent his entire working life in the public service? He rose to the very top of the leadership of the national umbrella body of his primary profession, and his occupation, respectively. He was national President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, (NIA). He equally coursed all the way in the civil service to become a Permanent Secretary and a long-serving one. These attainments were bagged strictly on merit. His enterprise has not gone unnoticed as he has been deservedly decorated by the highest honours of his professional calling where he is a Fellow. He has also received national garlands in recognition of his good work, notably that of the Officer of the Order of the Niger, (OON). He retired upon grossing 35 memorable years in service, back in 2021. He was barely catching his breath when duty beckoned for him to return to avail the nation his variegated experiences in yet another capacity. This has been the story of his life.
Several decades in the ovens and furnaces of the public service have invested him with the archetypal reticence of a prototype bureaucrat. They are not given to much talk, the essential credo of his lifelong profession requiring public officers like him being “to be seen and not to be heard.” He is exceptionally, comprehensively grounded as a public servant who traversed nearly a dozen ministries, departments and agencies, (MDAs), in a most eventful and insightful career. What can be more all-encompassing and enriching with regards to cognate working experience than when an individual straddles the ministries of: Works and Housing; Defence; Water Resources; Agriculture; Power; Communications and Education, at the highest levels?
With the bifurcation of the erstwhile Ministry of Works and Housing, and the excavation of a “Ministry of Livestock” out of the extant Ministry of Agriculture, he can fittingly be credited with many more service addresses. And all of these preclude the lengthy list of national and international ad hoc responsibilities which garnish his cumulative experiential scope. He was in the earliest generation of civil servants who, with the return of democracy in 1999, was groomed in “Budget Monitoring and Price Intelligence.” This derived from the determination of the new regime to introduce more transparency in public procurement processes. He “evangelised” this credo in all his official bus stops.
It is Sonny Togo Echono’s birthday Monday December 16, 2024. When he’s addressed by the combination of the initials from his first two names, ST, he knows you come from years and decades back with him. It is supposedly a special day in the eyes of his family, colleagues, subordinates and friends. Customised greeting cards arrogate a section of his office at the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, (TETFUND) headquarters in Abuja, to themselves. For the Executive Secretary of the organisation, however, the day is a regular working day like every other. And there was plenty of work to be done. He prefers to operate from the conference table in a corner of his office which enables him ease of access to files and documents placed before him. He’s also able, with despatch, to attend to staff who desire his official guidance, as he looks up from papers placed before him from time to time. There’s no time for a meal as yet but he tosses a few nuts in his mouth from time to time.
TETFUND was established in 1993, and was initially christened the Education Trust Fund, (ETF). It is funded majorly from a two per cent tax on the assessable profits of companies registered in Nigeria. It was at inception, targeted to arrest the rot and degeneration in educational infrastructure, arising from long periods of neglect and miserly resource allocation. It was rechristened to its present nomenclature during the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. TETFUND administers, appropriates and oversees resources so aggregated for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in the country. It avails capital for educational facilities and infrastructure, including essential physical infrastructure for instruction and learning. TETFUND also supports research and development as well as the training and advancement of academics, among other segments of its responsibilities.
In a little over two years at the helm, Echono has striven to institute a new work ethic in TETFUND to ensure that it achieves its foundation mandate, especially against the backdrop of challenging economic headwinds. He has introduced sweeping reforms which has upset the preexisting apple cart in several ways. Echono has been very fastidious on issues of due process and effective service delivery. The system he inherited was fraught with entrenched power blocs which determined the running of the organisation to the detriment of its core vision. Echono has been uncompromising in his insistence that the institution must be run strictly according to the books. This is one resolve which was bound to unsettle the “indigenes and landlords” within, and their external allies, who hitherto, construed the organisation as a potential “automated teller machine,” (ATM).
Echono clarifies: “There were cartels in charge of TETFUND projects. They collaborated with all manner of political leaders to come to the organisation to collect ”special intervention projects,” as it is referred to. “There were no defined modalities in place which enhanced operational opacity.” Speaking further, Echono notes: “When I was asked to come here, I was given a very clear mandate to clean up this place and I’m doing just that. The system is the better for it because we have substantially minimised waste and our stakeholders acknowledge this much.” A confident Echono said he had indeed invited the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission, (ICPC), to check through the operations of the organisation: “I invited the ICPC to come and inspect our systems. They’ve visited us twice and are satisfied with how we are straightening up the system.”
Echono is aware that he has stepped on toes while trying to do the right thing. He insists there is no backing down on his mission. His words: “I’ve made enemies on this job. But we have a duty as people privileged to serve, to help in salvaging our country.” Discreet findings indeed reveal that there are internal mumblers and external discontents on his case. There are those who supposedly feel entitled to a perpetuation of their term in office. There are also as those who fancy being gifted the leadership of the organisation as political gratification. Some of them reportedly, had begun to make reassuring commitments to friends and associates, thereby preempting their consideration for the job and the express approval of the President. There are also suggestions about internal saboteurs who are in the habit of trading in classified information concerning the organisation. Some of them are indeed said to be politically exposed persons, fantasising about deploying the organisation for the advancement of their vaunting political aspirations.
While Echono is contending with this hydra, a certain Emeka Marcel Nweke has created a Facebook page with Echono’s name to defraud members of the public. Benneth Igwe, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, (AIG) in-charge of Zone 7 Police Command Headquarters on Tuesday December 17, 2024, disclosed this to newsmen. Echono it was who wrote a petition to the police about “criminal conspiracy, impersonation, fraud, false representation, cyberstalking, obtaining money by false pretence and threat to life,” upon which the police acted. Nweke was reportedly tracked to Awada, Anambra State and was found to have fleeced unsuspecting members of the public of over N10 million in the month of August 2024, alone. Such are the issues he’s multitasking to address.
Echono’s enterprise thus far, has accorded renewed respect and visibility to TETFUND. More and more high profile institutions and individuals, home-based and from the diaspora, regularly engage with the organisation in recent times to discuss partnerships. These include even the military establishment which is in the business of revolving tune-ups for its human capacity, consistent with global dynamics. The multidimensional Echono is equally very busy on lecture circuits these days, regularly called upon to chair, speak or to deliver papers at various events. His trophy-chest brims with glittering medals, gleaming plaques, glossy trophies and beaming mementos, awarded to him by several groups and associations, through the years. These acknowledgements are for inimitable altruism, selfless leadership and exemplary corporate governance, despite the odds.
Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja
The Police Service Commission has approved the promotion of 27 senior Police Officers comprising of 11 Commissioners of Police to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police and 16 Deputy Commissioners of Police to the substantive rank of Commissioners of Police.
The newly promoted Officers were in the Corporate Headquarters of the Commission today, December 16th, where they went through both written and oral examinations.
Commission Chairman, DIG Hashimu Argungu rtd, mni said both written and oral examinations would henceforth be a pre-requisite for promotion in all the cadres of the Nigeria Police Force. He noted that Officers of the Nigeria Police Force should deliberately continue to improve and expose themselves to global best practices, which should include proficiency in ICT.
The eleven Commissioners of Police promoted to Assistant Inspectors General of Police were; Umar Shehu Nadada, Commissioner of Police Nasarawa state; Mustapha Mohammed Bala, Commissioner of Police, Rivers state; Abayomi Peter Oladipo, Commissioner of Police, Ondo state; Taiwo Olatunde Adeleke, Commissioner of Police, SWAT, FCID, Abuja; Ibrahim Abdullahi, mni, Commissioner of Police, Kaduna State and Nwonyi Polycarp Emeka, Commissioner of Police PPP, DLS, Force Headquarters Abuja.
Others are; Akinwale Kunle Adeniran, mni, Commissioner of Police, Ekiti State; Zubairu Abubakar, Commissioner of Police Courses, Police Staff College, Jos; Fom Pam Joseph psc(+) Commissioner of Police, Homicide, FCID Abuja; Emuobo Fred Ekokotu, fdc, Commissioner of Police Admin, Airwing Abuja and Garba Musa Yusuf, Deputy Commandant Police Staff College, Jos.
The 16 Deputy Commissioners of Police elevated to the substantive rank of Commissioners were; Kayode Ojapinwa, DC, SCID, FCT, Emmanual Ighodalo, DC, ZCID, Zone 8, Lokoja; Bose Funmi Akinyemi, DC SEB, FCID Annex, Lagos; Barayimil Ahmadu Samaila, DC, DFA, Kogi state; Martin Nwogoh, fdc, DC, DFA, Zone 2, Lagos; Shetima Jauro Mohammed, DC SCID, Nasarawa state; Ibrahim Gotan, DC, DFA Zone 2 Bauchi; Rabiu Mohammed, DC Ops, Zone 3, Yola; Olugbenga Ayodeji Abimbola, DC, SCID, Ekiti State and Adepoju Olugbenga Adewale, DC Ops Rivers State.
Others were; Bello Yahaya, DC, Anti Money Laundering FCID Abuja; Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, PhD, mnim, DC Ops, DOO AKPO, Bayelsa State; Hauwa Ibrahim Jibrin, mnips, DC, DFA, FCT; Abayomi Shogunle, fsi, DC, Ops Osun State; Mohammed Azare Baba fsi, DC, OPs, Akwa Ibom state and Ezekiel Philip Husseini, DC ZCID, Zone 3 Yola.
DIG Taiwo Lakanu, fdc, Honourable Commissioner in the Commission and Chairman Standing Committee on Police Promotions took the Officers through a rigorous oral interview and advised them to pay more attention to the dictates of their new office.
DIG Lakanu said they must give their best in the service adding that the Commission will continue to ensure that their promotions are timely and based on merit.
The Plenary Meeting continues tomorrow, Tuesday, December 17th 2024.
Perceptive political followers must have been enthralled by the rainbow coloration of representation for the people of Kogi West on one hand, and Okunland, in the *ninth session* of the national assembly. Between 2019 and 2023, the Senator representing Kogi West at the time was Smart Adeyemi of the All Progressives Congress, (APC). The Lokoja/Kotonkarfe federal constituency had Shaba Ibrahim of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP); the Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu constituency represented by Tajudeen Yusuf also of the PDP, while the Yagba federal constituency had Leke Joseph Abejide of the Africa Democratic Congress, (ADC). Kogi State politics hitherto was practically “mono-political,” the PDP being the party to beat. The emergence of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA), which contested the governorship of Anambra State in 2023, accentuated popular belief that political parties beyond the big ones could contest and win popular votes.
Indeed, the multi-party coalition which berthed the APC in 2015 and enabled the party clinch the presidency, reinforced the possibility that aspirants for political office could indeed realise their ambitions outside the bigger, “mainstream” parties. The 2023 general elections threw up new dynamics in the politics of Kogi West and Okunland. Sunday Karimi who earlier had two stints as representative of the Yagba federal constituency from 2011 to 2015, and from 2015 to 2019, won the senatorial election on the platform of the APC. Abejide got rewarded by his kinsmen for representing them well in his first term and was reelected in 2023. That he remained in the ADC and triumphed even many assumed he would defect to the ruling APC reaffirmed the depth of affection his people have for him. Salman Idris, Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, (FNIA), the incumbent representative of Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu in the House of Representatives. He adopted the same ADC platform like Abejide for the actualization of his ambition. He has but since followed the APC gravy train.Legislators, traditionally, have been known to restrict their services, to their specific constitutional catchments.
A federal parliamentarian representing Lokoja/Kotonkarfe for instance, concentrates his efforts and advocacy on his specific geopolitical boundaries. TJ Yusuf in his three terms as legislator representing Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency from 2011 to 2023, experimented with a pan-Okun approach which aimed at engaging with the five core Okun local government areas, as one bloc. He introduced a regular interactive forum where federal bureaucrats of directorial cadre, Assistant Directors, Deputy Directors and substantive Directors from Okunland converged from time to time to rub minds in the collective interest of the Okun country. Yusuf also cultivated and sustained his affiliations with the entire span of Okunland, regularly identifying with causes beyond his specific area of service. Okunland has serially received the short end of the stick, regularly overlooked by federal and state authorities in the developmental scheme.
From critical infrastructures like roads, to power supply, and more recently insecurity, Okunland has been the butt of deceit and multifaceted afflictions through successive regimes. Beyond their primary responsibilities in law-making therefore, federal congressmen have been compelled to get very involved in providing very basic needs for their constituents. This has often tasked their creativity and private resources, in a milieu of shrinking fiscal wherewithal.Abejide endeared himself to his folks in the three Yagba local government areas, among other reasons by underwriting the bills for all students in public schools in Yagbaland desiring to write the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination, (SSSCE), back in 2018. While prioritising his alleged humongous thievery from the common patrimony of the people for which he is standing trial, former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, wilfully asphyxiated civil servants and other workers of their remunerations and entitlements.
He deliberately weaponised poverty among the citizenry and the workforce, exposing the people to tangible gloom and despair. The opacity which characterised the primaries of the bigger political parties also culminated in the hemorrhaging which produced breakouts like Abejide.Abejide, cognisant of the place of education in the lives of his people read the situation rightly and intervened decisively. He has since expanded the scope of his magnanimity to cover all secondary schools, public and private, across the five primary Okun local government areas. Simply put, education is the major industry in Okunland, an area which has turned out world class intellectuals, professionals and technocrats, in their thousands and Abejide knows this. More contemporaneously, Abejide began a process of mass procurement of resource materials for public and private secondary and tertiary institutions in Okunland. Further to the recent public presentation of two major books by this writer, Abejide procured 150 pairs of the books for distribution to schools across Okunland. The accounting colossus, Otunba Funso Davies Owoyemi it was who pioneered such good naturedness, procuring and distributing Olusunles books across schools in Okunland.
With the decrepit road infrastructure in Okunland earlier alluded to, Abejide has regularly joined forces with like minds to ensure the motorability of roads within Okunland, especially every yuletide season. From the north of Nigeria and Abuja, Okunland is accessible through the Kabba- Ekinrin Adde- Omuo Ekiti, and the Kabba- Aiyetoro-Gbedde- Isanlu- Ejiba roads respectively. Sadly, both accesses are barely motorable at the best of times. Commuters have been known to pass some nights on these roads at the height of rainy seasons which heighten the brokenness of the roads. Abejide is also leading the charge for the development of a dedicated *Okun House* which will serve as one-stop secretariat for Okun people. As a first timer in the House of Representatives between 2019 and 2023, fate thrust the chairmanship of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, on Abejide. In the *10th Assembly* which is in session, Abejide has been retained in the same position, a placement which has enabled him to support his people in instances. Sunday Karimi came into office as Senator representing Kogi West District, armed with requisite experience as a “ranking parliamentarian.” While he previously covered just the three local government areas in Yagbaland, his present responsibility spans seven expansive local governments, traversing three federal constituencies. That Karimi was promptly assigned to chair the Senate Committee on Services by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, is evidence that he can be trusted to deliver. He has been proactive since he was inaugurated alongside his colleagues in June 2023. Karimi commanded attention earlier this year when he initiated and singlehandedly undertook to build a military “Foreward Operating Base,” (FOB) in Egbe, Kogi State, at the intersection of Kogi and Kwara states. Karimi had been personally traumatised by the sudden desecration of the pristine calm and quiet of Okunland, by a motley of undesirable elements. Thoughtless Fulani herdsmen; brazen armed robbers and daring kidnappers, have suddenly upset the acclaimed serenity of Okunland. Karimi’s all encompassing “mini barracks” is complete with accommodation facilities; administrative offices; an observatory; recreation installations; water supply and so on. He equally provided trucks for the mobility of the occupants. The facility was taken over last October by the Nigerian Army which has since deployed personnel. Leke Abejide attended the event to support Karimi, as evidence of the rapprochement between both legislators. Karimi who inaugurated a N100m bursary scheme for students of tertiary institutions from Kogi West last July, has committed another N100million to the empowerment of women in Kogi West, through cooperative societies. He moved swiftly last October to personally fund the restoration of the dismembered *Pakuta* bridge connecting communities in Ijumu, Bunu district and Lokoja local government areas, at about N20m. *Setraco Construction Ltd* was originally awarded their contract to build the whole stretch of the road and related infrastructures. Inadequate funding has, however, impacted the realisation of the project. Karimi is also building a 1000 capacity multipurpose hall at the National Open University of Nigeria, (NOUN) Study Centre in Isanlu. Karimi is anchoring the holistic upgrading of the Government Secondary School, Kotonkarfe, into an ultramodern institution, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education, which will cost over one billion naira. Karimi has also launched an ambitious N1.24 Billion project, to rehabilitate and build 140 solar-powered boreholes across Kogi West, across the 85 electoral wards in KogiWest. Back in September, Sokoto State Governor, Ahmad Aliyu-Sokoto, announced his administration had committed N1.2Billion on building 25 new boreholes! Karimi’s constituents must feel immensely proud about the frugal effectiveness of their representative. The first two boreholes under the “140 boreholes initiative,” have been drilled in Aherin community in Lokoja local government area. Karimi, in addition to these laudable strides, has been financially supportive of the *Anglican Church School of Nursing Project* being developed in Iyara. The initiative is being pursued in collaboration with Scotland-based organisation. Ever conscious of the thirst of his people for educational and professional literacy, Karimi maintains close oversight on this initiative. Smart Adeyemi and Dino Melaye, Karimi’s predecessors in the Senate, broached the advocacy for the upgrade of the Federal College of Agriculture in Kabba, which is affiliated to the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria, into a full-fledged university, while in office. The aim is to provide additional opportunities for university education for restless questers from Kogi West and beyond. Karimi has continued on the same path, ever drawing the attention of the Senate to the imperative of this popular desire by his people.Karimi and Abejide are amongst the most experienced parliamentarians from Kogi State in the federal congress, on current form. The hitherto discontinued meetings of the Kogi West Caucus in the national assembly, has been reactivated. This engenders interface between congressmen with the overall aim of providing better representation for the people. They have also opened up themselves to regular interactions with their constituents as may be requested for, and scheduled. Karimi and Abejide hosted representatives of the *Yagba Action Group* in their Abuja homes, within one week of each other, in August and September this year for instance. Both men are also on the same page on ensuring the rehabilitation of the Kabba-Aiyetoro-Gbedde-Mopamuro-Isanlu-Egbe road, a critical artery connecting almost all the local government areas in the zone. Confronting the reality that governmental budgetary provisions may never scratch the surface of the road, Karimi and Abejide continue to collectively engage the Federal Ministry of Works, and the leadership of *Mangal Cement Industries* which recently became operational in *Iluhagba Gbedde,* in Ijumu area. Sections of the Kabba to Egbe road are being patched up for motorability as we speak, arising from the persistence of both gentlemen.
It is the same unanimity of purpose which informs the concern of both public servants about the need for the operationalisation of *Omi Dam,* a facility in Yagba West, built decades ago, yet un-utilised. The dam can be developed for hydro- electricity and for irrigation purposes to ensure all-year farming in Kogi West. The journal towards tangibly impacting their constituencies and homelands may still be long. It seems evident, however, that Karimi and Abejide have their bootstraps firmly fastened, eyes trained on the tracks of the marathon.
Tunde Olusunle, PhD, Fellow of the Association of Nigerian Authors, (FANA), is an Adjunct Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Abuja
Two suspected international fraudsters that specialize in forging certificates of different international and African Universities have been arrested by the police at Zone 2, Onikan, Lagos. The suspects, Elvis Osakpolo Edokpain, 23, and Kelly Osas Endgieen, 24, also specialize in defrauding their unsuspecting victims on the internet and have succeeded in acquiring exotic cars and erecting mansions in different parts of the country with the proceeds of their loot. Police sources at Zone 2 said table turned for the suspects after detectives at the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Zone received credible information from outside Nigerians concerning some group of boys that specializes in forging foreign certificates. It was learned that on getting the information, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of the Zone, Adegoke Fayoude detailed anti-corruption unit to investigate it. He reportedly gave matching orders that they must be rounded up without delay.
Based on his stern directives, according to police sources, detectives stormed Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos and as soon as the suspects arrived, they trailed them to a five star hotel at Osapa-London in Lekki and later accosted them at the bus stop while they were about escaping secretly from the hotel. It was gathered that on searching their luggage, one certificate of Blue Crest College, Ghana, belonging to Elvis Osakpolo Edokpiain, was recovered and a student identity card of Academic City College was also recovered from Kenny Osas. Further search revealed a transcript of an academic record from Blue Crest University belonging to Elvis Osapolo. Going through the search again, detectives discovered a letter of English proficiency from the said college and a letter of recommendation from the same Blue Crest College.
Reports said that upon interrogation, the suspects made useful statements to the police and confessed that they never got any admission into the school, that they procured the degree certificate through the help of a female Nigerian resident in Ghana. The suspects further stated that the major aim of doing that is to enable them get Ghana resident permit, which they got and the resident permit is showing them also as a student of Academic City University and that none of them has ever been admitted in the school. Police sources further disclosed that the suspects confessed that they were made to pay 15,000 Ghana cedis for the certificate and 5,000 Ghana cedis which is equivalent to N1.5 million and 5,000 Ghana cedis for the resident permit which is equivalent to 500,000 dollars. They reportedly paid a total of 26,000 Ghana cedis to procure the documents. On further interrogation, they said that they are doing it to evade arrest in Ghana since they don’t have any means of livelihood. According to the suspects in their confessional statements, whenever police intercept us, we will show the passport that we are students because we don’t have any means of livelihood in Ghana.
On further interrogation, they confessed that they do fraudulent activities, such as online romance scam and the provision of foreign bank accounts for fraudulent transactions on internet through what they call ‘ Facebook bombing’. The suspects said; “we meet people online and present ourselves as an American soldier by name Captain Donald Rowe, whom we are impersonating on Instagram. He is a captain of the United States of America and currently on peacekeeping mission in Syria. While we are engaging our victims, we will tell them that there are goods in Syria that if they are interested to buy, they should pay money and we will send the goods to you. We will show them pictures of good materials in Syria. The suspects also said,” After they make the payment, we use our block chain wallets to collect the money or foreign bank accounts which at last are being credited in our Nigerian accounts. We have our partners in UK, South Africa, and other countries and most of our victims are from Japan, Denmark, China, and other countries.” Vanguard learned that while detectives were making frantic efforts to get more credible information from the arrested suspects, a mild drama ensured when the two suspects started negotiating to bribe the police for them to be set free.
Police sources said at that stage, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Adegoke Fayoude who recently exposed another suspected fraudsters for offering his men a whooping sum of N174m as bribe was contacted and he directed his men to play along and recover the money as an exhibit. Subsequently, the detectives played along and the suspects paid them a sum of N66m, which they collected and kept as an exhibit. Police sources said that already, police authorities have written to Ghana embassy to get more information about the result and their suspected partners in Ghana said to be spearheading the fraud while they have also spread their dragnets through the International Police, Interpol, to round up their foreign accomplices.
The suspects who claimed they were only able to attend secondary schools in Benin City lamented the fate that befell them stating that it was poverty and the need to make ends meet that drove them into fraud They advised youths in the country to work hard in order to achieve success and stop looking for the easy way out.
After securing a whopping deal worth over $10 million to perform at a Royal wedding in India, Davido has accumulated all the trending space on social media.
Attributed to shutting down the wedding ceremony with an electric riffing performance, fans are suggesting that Davido should have been paid more following how he made most of the moment count with his unique approach to stage performance.
Via video proofs, shared online by explorers, Davido was spotted Dancing along with the couple while performing his hit songs, including his latest song ‘Funds’.
After the show, while curiosity verged to the flair, Davido confirmed he was paid $10 million after revealing the identity of the Royal status who paid the outrageous amount on his Instagram.From this aspect, Davido warned about his incoming dominance which will yield in 2025, bragging about his qualities on Instagram.
Rivals fans dug on their nerves and heavily lambasted the Royal status for paying Davido $10 million instead of Wizkid, further ridiculing him.Meanwhile, Davido has made incredible view of deals in 2024, bagging in numbers including endorsement deals and individual deals that helped fund his luxurious lifestyle. He is recongnised as the most endorsed Afrobeat star in Nigeria, gracing over 20 vital endorsement so far.
Arrests 3 businessmen linked to consignments in Lagos; recovers N4.4billion worth opioids in Rivers
By Ebinum Samuel
Multi-billion-naira worth of shipments of Methamphetamine and Loud, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis meant for distribution during the Christmas and New Year festive season, concealed in automobile spare parts imported from Canada, have been intercepted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Tincan seaport in Lagos after months of intelligence-driven tracking of the cargoes across three continents. For the first time in the history of NDLEA’s anti-narcotic operations, two consignments of methamphetamine weighing 83.301 kilograms were on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th December 2024, recovered from separate containers bearing vehicles and spare parts coming from Canada and heading to warehouses in the Ladipo automobile parts market in Mushin area of Lagos. While one of the containers going to Ladipo market through the Sifax bonded terminal was examined on Thursday 12th December, not less than 5.001kg methamphetamine hidden in a bag wrapped in bed sheet that came in a Toyota Camry car, was recovered, even as a businessman, Isaac Onwumere linked with the consignment was promptly arrested.
The other container bearing automobile spare parts checked on Friday 13th December was found to contain 1, 735 parcels of Loud packed in 44 jumbo bags with a total weight of 867.5kg and six plastic coolers containing 87 packs of methamphetamine weighing 78.3kg. At least, two businessmen: Nwanolue Emeka and Friday Ogbe have been arrested in connection with the seizure. The two meth consignments have a combined weight of 83.301kg worth One Hundred and Twenty-Four Million Nine Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand Naira (124,951,000.00) while the 867.5kg Loud is worth Two Billion One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Seven Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N2,168,750,000.00) in street value. The seizures were made during a joint examination of the shipments with Customs and other port stakeholders.
This followed months of intelligence processing and tracking of the consignments from their ports of loading in Canada to the landing port in Lagos by combined Special Operations Units in NDLEA and the Tincan Port Strategic Command of the Agency. The first container with 5.001kg meth came under the radar of NDLEA’s intelligence network on 4th October 2024 when the preparation for the shipment began in Toronto, Canada, monitored through 8th October when the shipment was received at the rail ramp, loaded on the rail and departed to Montreal, Canada where it arrived and was unloaded the following day 9th October. The consignment was further monitored till it was loaded on a vessel on 19th October through when the vessel arrived and discharged at Antwerp in Belgium on 30th October after which the consignment was trans-shipped and loaded on 14th November before arriving Lagos port on 1st December and released to a bonded terminal two days after. The second shipment containing 867.5kg Loud and 78.3kg methamphetamine followed the same route. It came under NDLEA’s intelligence tracking on 8th October 2024 when the consignments were delivered to the shipper in Toronto, Canada, loaded on the rail on 14th October and arrived Montreal the following day, 15th, after which they were loaded on a vessel to Europe on 20th October.
After arrival and trans-shipment at Antwerp in Belgium on 6th and 17th November respectively, the consignments were tracked till they arrived and discharged from the vessel at Lagos port on 6th December before being moved to the terminal on 10th December. At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state, no fewer than Six Hundred and Thirty-Six Thousand Six Hundred (636,600) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth Four Billion Four Hundred and Fifty-Six Million Two Hundred Thousand Naira (N4,456,200,000.00) in street value were intercepted in shipments from India on Monday 9th, Wednesday 11th and Friday 13th December 2024. The seizures were made during joint examination of four containers by NDLEA officers, men of Customs and other security agencies at the port following processed credible intelligence on the shipments. With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of City Comprehensive College, Ogidi, Anambra; Government Secondary School, Toungo, Adamawa; Bonny Camp Primary School, Victoria Island, Lagos; Government Junior Secondary School, Yarganji, Kano, while Oyo state command of NDLEA delivered WADA enlightenment lecture to leaders, elders, youths and residents of Tapa community, Tapa, among others. While commending the officers and men of the Special Operations Units, Tincan, and Onne Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that the operational successes should show the drug barons and cartels that the Agency has the capacity and intelligence network to track their movements and their consignments even before getting to Nigeria. He said they will continue to lose heavily if they fail to back down on the criminal trade.
Femi Babafemi Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says all denominations of Naira banknotes currently in circulation remain indefinitely valid as legal tender and cannot expire or be phased out.A statement on Friday by CBN’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs Sidi Ali Hakama, said all banknotes, including the old and new designs of N1,000, N500, and N200, were valid.
Hakama urged the public to disregard misinformation regarding the validity of the old notes.
“In
line with the bank’s previous clarifications and to offer further assurance, the CBN wishes to reiterate that the subsisting Supreme Court ruling granted on November 29, 2023, permits the concurrent circulation of all versions of the N1,000, N500, and N200 denominations of the Naira indefinitely.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all versions of the Naira, including the old and new designs of N1000, N500, and 4200 denominations, as well as the commemorative and previous designs of the 100 denomination, remain valid and continue to be legal tender without any deadline.
“We, therefore, advise the public to disregard any claims that the old series of the aforementioned banknotes will cease to be legal tender on December 31, 2024.
“We urge Nigerians to continue accepting all Naira banknotes (both old and redesigned) for their daily transactions and to handle them with care to ensure their longevity,” she said.
The director encouraged the general public to embrace alternative modes of payment, such as e-channels, to reduce pressure on using physical cash. (NAN)
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested activist Comrade Abiodun Olamide Thomas, also known as “Horlarmidey Africano,” following her vocal criticism of police brutality and misconduct.
According to reports, Olamide was abducted early Friday morning from her home in the Somolu area of Lagos after the police apprehended her brother the previous day to track her location.Sources reveal that after the arrest, Olamide was taken to the Alade Police Station before being transferred to the State Command in Ikeja, where she is currently being held.Her daughter, fearing for her safety, managed to senda distress message to theTake-It-Back Movement(TIB) group.According to Sahara Reporters, Olamide had previously raised concerns about her safety, especially after ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Police Public Relations Officer, allegedly targeted her due to her outspoken criticism of the police.
She had been vocal against Adejobi’s press statements and his attempts to discredit protest movements, especially after the October 20, 2024, #EndSARS memorial protest where she was allegedly brutalized by police.In an earlier interview with SaharaReporters, Olamide said she had not committed any crime other than her activism and participation in protests.She revealed that Adejobi had falsely accused her of bullying people online, including himself, and had mobilized the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to track her down.Olamide also shared experiences of police harassment, including being bullied by officers on her social media platforms.
She also condemned the police for arresting people linked to her, including Mr Lanre Shotunde, under the pretext of trying to locate her.
