In a heck of a mess last week Thursday, operatives of the Lagos state Environmental and Special Offences
(Enforcement) Unit were on rampage in Alimosho LGA, extorting commercial motorcycle riders popularly known as Okada of various sums of money. The operatives, while defying the mantra of the new Chairman, “See Something, Say Something” in public glare, raided the commercial bike operators in Aboru,Baruwa and Igando.
In the melee , some of the riders who were fortunate to raised money ranging from N20,000 and N50,000, had their motorcycles released to them on the spot. Those whose bikes were taken to the Agency office paid various sums ranging from N100,000 — N200,000, depends on the type of the bike impounded. At Aboru, near Aboru Police Post, one of the victims who gave his as Abdulahi said he raised N30, 000 from a POS Operator to settled the operatives of the state Task Force.
A Landlord who craved anonymity enjoined the Chairman of the Agency, CSP Adetayo Akerele to investigate the team that came on raiding in that area on Thursday. This, he said would give credibility and meaning to his mantra and his anti-corruption stance.
A Vietnam-bound businessman, Paul Okwuy Mbadugha has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja after he tested positive to ingestion of cocaine. The 54-year-old suspect was intercepted at the boarding gate of the Abuja airport on Monday 12th August 2024 during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Hanoi, Vietnam via Doha. After four days under excretion observation, Mbadugha egested a total of 88 wraps of the illicit drug with a gross weight of 1.710 kilograms. In his statement, he claimed he’s a Lagos based businessman and was given the cocaine pellets to swallow by a friend at Isolo area of the state for onward delivery in Vietnam for a fee of $2,000.
In the same vein, NDLEA officers at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos have intercepted a shipment of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 800 grams concealed in noodles going to Congo. A follow up operation at the Alaba International market, Ojo area of Lagos led to the arrest of the sender of the consignment, Nnamani Sunday Sunny, who deals in GSM handsets. Meanwhile, a large consignment of Loud imported from Canada have been recovered by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport. A suspect, Desalu Taophic Temitope, who arrived on board an Air France flight with six boxes was arrested by anti-narcotic officers during a joint examination by security agencies at the arrival hall. A total of 65.80 kilograms of the psychoactive substance were recovered from four of the six suitcases. In his statement, Desalu said he and an accomplice currently at large were promised $10,000 upon successful delivery of the shipment in Lagos. No less than Eight Hundred and Ninety-Two Thousand Four Hundred (892,400) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth Six Billion Two Hundred and Forty-Six Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N6,246,800,000.00) in street value were recovered from five containers by NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state during a joint examination of the containers with men of the Nigeria Customs and other port stakeholders on Wednesday 14th and Thursday 15th August 2024. The bottles of the opioid were packed in 5,337 cartons with a gross weight of 133,860 kilograms and shipped in five containers from India. In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives supported by men of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies as well as community youths on Wednesday 14th August raided the Ise forest reserve, Saalaja camp, Ise-Ekiti, where 21,800 kilograms of cannabis sativa on 20 hectares of farm land were destroyed.
The following day, Thursday 15th August, NDLEA officers on patrol along Onitsha- Enugu road in Enugu intercepted a Sienna bus marked SKA-24 AG from which 200.2kg of cannabis was recovered and the driver, Okoro Emmanuel, 41, arrested. While the duo of Joseph Apeh, 45, and Diamond Nnabuike, 21, were arrested with 145,400 pills of tramadol on Monday 12th August at Gadar Tamburawa, area of Kano, NDLEA operatives in Ogun state on Tuesday 13th August arrested 70-year-old Fidelis Egede and three others: Samuel Sylvanus, 31; Jato Samson, 33; and Francis Blessing, 28, when a cannabis plantation on six hectares was raided at Alaka village.
In Abuja, NDLEA officers on patrol along Kwali-Gwagwalada expressway on Tuesday 13th August intercepted a truck from which 30,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered and three suspects: Ifeanyi Sunday, Jeremiah Paul and Edet Ubokobong arrested. While operatives in Niger state on Thursday 15th August arrested Ifeanyi Chukwueze in Kontagora town with 28, 500 pills of tramadol concealed in a loudspeaker, their counterparts in Kogi state on Wednesday 14th August nabbed Abba Yakubu with 40,000 pills of the same opioid heading to Kontagora. Another suspect, Tochukwu Onah, 39, was arrested by NDLEA officers at Paparanda, Lokoja on Thursday 15th August, 2024, with 1,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection. Across the country, NDLEA Commands continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization lectures and advocacy visits to worship centres, schools, workplaces, palaces of traditional rulers and communities all through the week.
Instances include: WADA sensitization lecture to students of College of Nursing Science, Awgu, Enugu state; traditional rulers in Umuahia North, Abia state; WADA advocacy visit to the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunleye 111, Ondo state; and WADA advocacy visit to the Dein of Agbor, Dr. Benjamin Ikenchukwu Keagborekuzi 1, Delta state, among others. While commending the officers and men of the NAIA, MMIA, PHPC, FCT, Kogi, Ogun, Ekiti, Kano, Enugu and Niger Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) also applauded their compatriots in all the commands across the country for intensifying the WADA sensitization lectures and advocacy messages to every part of their areas of responsibility.
The president, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio are among distinguished Nigerians that will grace the wedding of the son of the Inspector-general of Police, IGP , Mr Kayode Egbetokun on Saturday this week in Lagos.Reliable source disclosed that the reception of the wedding fixed at Harbour Point in Victoria Island is expected to be graced by who is who in Nigeria.
Expected at the occasion are governors, Ministers, Chairman of Police Service Commission, PSC, DIG Hashimu Argungu ( RTD) and Chairman of Nigeria Police Force Micro Finance Bank, Mr Samuel Adegbuyi.The police in Lagos have began security arrangements for the grand occasion.
Nigeria’s democracy often feels like a surreal theatre where the unimaginable becomes reality. This political arena, filled with both the extraordinary and the absurd, is a quagmire navigable only by those skilled in political mudslinging and survival. A recent article (in Leadership News, July 19th, 2024) titled “Bill To Create Okura State Out Of Kogi Passes Second Reading” highlights the struggle for power and dominance by the majority ethnic group in Kogi State. The bill, sponsored by Hon. Abdullahi Ibrahim Halims and others, proposes the creation of Okura State with Egume as its capital, arguing that it would engender “balance, more representation, and equitable distribution of the nation’s resources, more development and wellbeing of the people of Igala”. However, the bill has faced significant opposition. Hon. Sanni Egidi Abdulraheem, representing Ajaokuta Federal Constituency, objected to the bill, claiming that his constituency was not consulted. Additionally, the Minority Leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda, pointed out that the bill failed to follow constitutional procedures for state creation, as outlined in Section 8 of the Constitution. Since Kogi State was created in 1991, whenever the Igala demand Okura State, they include Bassa, a non-Igala-speaking local government.
Their previous attempts, including a similar bill in 2009, have consistently included Bassa, despite objections from the Bassa Nge people. As if repeating falsity ever makes it a truth. The Bassa Nge have always preferred their current political configuration (in Kogi State) and have no interest in being part of Okura State. The campaign for the creation of Okura State, ironically, highlights the Igala’s discomfort with their majority status in Kogi State. The Igala have held significant political power, with four of the state’s twelve governors coming from the Igala ethnic group. Despite this dominance, they have shockingly been unable to achieve their dreams within the current state structure, leading them to seek a new state where they can ‘maintain control’. This pursuit of power by the Igala raises concerns about the “tyranny of the majority,” a concept first coined by Alexis de Tocqueville in his work “Democracy in America.” Tocqueville warned that even in a democratic system, the majority has the potential to oppress minority groups. In the case of Kogi State, the Igala majority’s push for Okura State threatens the rights and interests of the minority groups, particularly the Bassa Nge. The history of state creation in Nigeria has often been fraught with tensions between ethnic groups. The Bassa Nge, for example, have been moved between different states over the years, from Kwara to Benue and finally to Kogi. Throughout these changes, they have consistently expressed a desire to remain in their current political configuration rather than being subsumed into a new state dominated by the Igala.
The Igala’s latest move for Okura State, despite the objections of other ethnic groups, mirrors the actions of a group that serves itself first at a banquet, leaving only scraps for others yet remaining hungry. Without the consent of others, it can only amount to political rape, which is immoral in every sense. The National Assembly must resist this bill and protect the rights of minority groups in Nigeria. The sponsor of the bill has openly stated that the proposed “state will be inhabited by the Igala people, who are the ninth largest ethnic group in Nigeria.” This is a state for the Igala. Period. Political theorists like John Stuart Mill and Friedrich Nietzsche have long warned against the dangers of majority rule without safeguards for minority rights. Mill emphasised the importance of protecting minority rights in a representative government, while Nietzsche spoke of the “will to power,” where groups continuously seek to expand their influence at the expense of others. The Igala’s effort for Okura State reflects this will to power, as they seek to create a state where they can maintain control and influence. However, it is unlikely that the Igala will achieve in Okura State what they could not achieve in Kogi State. The claim that Okura State would ‘promote balance, representation, and equitable distribution of resources’ is laughable. Despite being in the majority and governing Kogi State for most of its history (approximately 62.5% of the democratically elected governors of Kogi State have been from the Igala), the Igala have not been able to achieve these goals. The drive for Okura State highlights the need for a political system that ensures equitable representation and protection for all ethnic groups, preventing any single group from monopolising power and resources.
Only then will minority groups have a sense of belonging and be free from the tyranny of the majority. The Bassa Nge have made it clear that they want nothing to do with Okura State, and this discussion should end here. We hope the National Assembly will protect the rights of the minority, and when the final gavel drops, the proposed fraud will be nullified.
Three kingpins and 16 other offenders have been convicted and sentenced to a total of Three Hundred and Two (302) years in prison for trafficking and dealing in illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis and opioids following their arrest and diligent prosecution by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA. The 19 convicts top the list of 414 drug traffickers and dealers convicted by the Federal High Court in Benue, Bauchi, Edo, Lagos, Ogun, Gombe and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja between July 1st – 31st 2024 based on charges filed against them by the anti-narcotics agency. One of the three kingpins, 50-year-old Bolanle Lookman Dauda was arrested in an intelligence-led raid by operatives of a special operation unit in NDLEA at Ibiye, along Lagos-Badagry expressway while attempting to cross the land border to deliver the consignment in Ghana on Saturday 25th May 2024. At the point of his arrest, 42 blocks of cocaine weighing 47.5 kilograms were found on him. A swift follow up operation in his residence at Plot 24/25 OPIC extension, Petedo road, Agbara, Ogun state, led to the recovery of additional eight blocks of the same drug weighing 10kg, bringing the total weight of the cocaine seized from him to 57.5 kilograms.
He was subsequently arraigned before Hon. Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos in charge number FHC/L/537C/2024. In his judgment delivered on 19th July 2024, Justice Allagoa convicted and sentenced him to 21 years imprisonment or payment of an option of N30million fine. Another kingpin who was put behind bars is 34-year-old Ikeh Stanley Ifeanyi who was arrested at the popular Idumota market in Lagos Island, where no fewer than 1,100 ampoules of lethal synthetic opioid, fentanyl, weighing 6.480kg were recovered from him. The dangerous opioid is 100 times more potent than heroin and currently responsible for over 70% overdose deaths as well as a major contributor to fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US. He was later arraigned before Justice Kehinde Ogundare of the Federal High Court Lagos in charge number FHC/L/433C/2024. Delivering his judgment on 4th July 2024, the trial judge convicted Ifeanyi on the two counts charge and sentenced him to 14 years in jail or an option of N2million fine.
In his own case, Christian Anyanwu was arrested on Saturday 26th November, 2022 with 1.4 kilograms of methamphetamine concealed inside custard tins packed among cosmetics and foodstuffs going to Brazil via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight. He was subsequently docked before Justice Yellin Bogoro of the Federal High Court Lagos, and later convicted on 12th July 2024. In his ruling, the trial judge sentenced Anyanwu to 16 years in jail, four of which is a mandatory imprisonment without an option of fine. Others who bagged mandatory imprisonment in July for drug trafficking include: Moses Yakubu sentenced to 25 years in prison on 22nd July by Justice Rita Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court Abuja; Oluosun Okikiola who was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in jail on 17th July by Justice A. A Okeke of the Federal High Court Abeokuta, Ogun state.
In the same vein, Justice R.J Abubakar of the Federal High Court, Makurdi, Benue state convicted and sentenced Chanchan Terpase to seven years in prison on 9th July while Justice C.O. Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Benin, Edo state convicted and sentenced Beauty Gani to 30 years in prison or payment of an option of N8million fine on 3rd July 2024. While commending the officers and men of the various commands involved in the arrest and prosecution of the cases as well as the judiciary for speedy adjudication, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) said the sentencing of the convicts will further give bite to the drug supply reduction efforts of the Agency.
As the nation counts down on the Edo and Ondo states Governorship elections, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu rtd, mni has demanded the highest level of professionalism from security operatives who will be providing security services during the off season Governorship elections in the twin States of Edo and Ondo States holding in September and November this year.DIG Argungu said the operatives especially the Nigeria Police Force, the lead Agency in election security must work to protect lives and properties of citizens before, during and immediately after the elections. I’m
The PSC Chairman who delivered a key note address today, Thursday, August 15th 2024 at the Election Security Management Symposium organised by JoshTech Security and Safety Consult Ltd in collaboration with the University of Lagos (UNILAG Consult) said the security Agencies must also ensure the safety of electoral Officers and other stakeholders. He said they should do necessary identification, surveillance and monitoring of all known possible subversive elements, “terrorist groups, political dissidents, pressure groups and other criminal elements”.DIG Argungu also noted that the security personnel should as a matter national importance maintain peaceful conditions, law and order around the Polling and collation centres.
He said the staff of the Commission will continue to carry out oversight functions on Policemen on election duties to protect the integrity of the elections.Spokesman, Ikechukwu Ani disclosed that the Symposium which held at Merit House, Maitama Abuja was for seasoned security Chiefs, Experts, Policy Makers, Researchers, Selected Civil Society Organisations (CSOs’), Party Chieftains and delegations from the Electoral umpire.
There are many nations in the world where monarchy is still prevalent. Today, we will tell you about the luxurious life and possessions of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei since 1967 and the PM of Brunei since independence from the UK in 1984. Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a Southeast Asian country and is the only sovereign state entirely on Borneo. Its Sultan and Prime Minister, Hassanal Bolkiah, is one of the few absolute monarchs in the world after the death of British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II.
He is now also the world’s longest-serving living monarch.
Hassanal Bolkiah assumed the throne of the Muslim nation in 1967 and is estimated to have a net worth of a whopping $30 billion (over Rs 3000 crore). Hassanal Bolkiah’s father, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, abdicated the throne, after which he was crowned as Sultan of Brunei Darussalam in October 1967.
As of 2012, he has five sons and seven daughters with his three wives.
Apart from his royal lineage and life, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei is famous all around the world for his luxurious lifestyle. He was the world’s richest man until 1980 and reportedly has assets over Rs 14,700 crore in oil reserves and natural gas which continue to be the biggest source of his yields.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos on Monday has dismissed the applications filed by two Indian nationals, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg and a Briton, Marcus Wade, to quash a bench warrant issued for their arrest and extradition, issued against them on alleged of $42,485,900 million USD fraud, for lacking in meritThe two Indians, the Briton who is the Chairman of Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, and their companies; Agrico Agbe Limited, Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, are being charged before the court by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) for allegedly defrauding Ecobank Plc of the sum of $ 42,485,900 million USD, with the pretence of using the of money to purchase and import into India parboiled rice into Nigeria.
Counts one and four against the defendants in the charge marked FHC/L/562C/2022, dated October 7, 2022, reads, “that you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015 at Ecobank Plc, Lagos within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 422 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.“That you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015 at Eco Bank Plc. Lagos within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Cheating in that you caused Ecobank Plc to deliver monies to the tune of $42, 485, 900. 00 (forty-Two Million, Four Hundred and Eight Five Thousand, Nine Hundred US Dollars) which was intended by contract for the purchase and import into Nigeria India Parboiled rice but never utilized the sum of money for the contract and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 421 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap, C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
Cybercriminals appeared to have compromised the domain address of Nigeria’s banking giant GTBank.FTN gathered that gtbank.com was no longer accessible on Wednesday night.The incident came a day after the domain name was renewed for another five years from August 13, 2024, through March 21, 2029, according to multiple online platforms that analyse domain information.
No collective of hackers has claimed responsibility for the vandalism, which appeared to have started on August 14. A spokesman for GTBank did not immediately return a request seeking comments.Already, the attackers appeared to have created another HTTP layer of the website in an apparent ploy to steal customers’ data through phishing.A cybersecurity expert with experience in the Nigerian banking industry said it was possible that the bank’s login details were compromised, as against the domain address itself being stolen for a resale at a more lucrative deal online.
GTBank’s customers have already started expressing their frustration about the incident, with many commenting on social media platform X that they couldn’t open the website to conduct transactions. Some of the bank’s representatives on X urged customers to be patient and send their requests to a designated channel.
The bank’s mobile infrastructure did not appear to have been affected, as Android and iOS-based applications were still in operation as of the time of this report.
The Chairman of the Police Service Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu rtd, mni, has called for proper and defined background checks in the nation’s recruitment process to ensure that the right people are selected and given opportunities to contribute to nation building. DIG Argungu noted that getting the right people into positions in the nation’s beaucracy is not easy and required an effective intake process in which skills and knowledge of individuals are matched with the demands of the jobs.
He spoke yesterday Wednesday, August 14th, 2024 at the 6th edition of the Commission’s ‘Arena of Knowledge’ weekly lecture series in Abuja where he declared that recruitment needs planning to meet all the objectives such as best skills, best jurisdiction and must be democratic.
He insisted that successful recruitment will be difficult “if jobs are vaguely defined ” adding that it is also necessary “to search for and secure the right people with the right skills in the right place at the right time”.The PSC Chairman who spoke on the topic “Hiring and Firing in the Public/Civil Service: Police Service Commission (PSC) Employment and Recruitment Template, Process and Practices ,” said background checks for applicants should include, schools attended, previous places worked, whether convicted for criminal offences, public records such as birth, marriage, divorces etc.DIG Argungu said appointments into all grades in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies should be on need basis.Also speaking on the same topic at the Arena of Knowledge lecture series, Mr. Sunday Abutu Garuba, Assistant Director in the Department of Human Resource Management in the Commission said hiring and Firing in the Public service are critical processes that require adherence to established rules, regulations and guidelines. Mr Garuba noted that the Public Service Rules (PSR) provides a framework for ensuring merit, transparency and fairness in the selection and management of civil servants.
“Effective hiring practices attract top talents, while fair and just Firing procedures maintain accountability and integrity in the Public Service” he explained. Mr Garuba remarked that by following due process and upholding the principles of public service, “we can build a competent, efficient and responsive civil service that serves the nation with integrity and excellence”
