The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has congratulated Oloriewe Raheem Adedoyin on his election into the governing board of the International Press Institute in Vienna.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, the Governor described Adedoyin’s election as a great honour well deserved for an outstanding media professional and administrator who has remained committed to the ideals of ethical journalism for many years.

“This is a great honour to us in Kwara and Nigeria as a whole. I have no doubt that Adedoyin will represent Kwara and Nigeria well on the global stage especially at this time when the media industry and professional journalists are faced with the challenge of balancing between free speech and organised forces of alternative facts, fake news, and disinformation which put true media professionals at great risk of public distrust,” the Governor said.

“On behalf of our administration, which is proud to identify with Adedoyin  and the Nigerian delegation to the IPI Congress, I congratulate him and other IPI board members, including Ms Khadija Patel, the first woman and African to be named the IPI Governing Board chairperson since the prestigious body was established some 70 years ago. I wish Adedoyin and other IPI board members a successful tenure.”

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In continuation of their offensive action against drug traffickers in in Nigeria, Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has intercepted hundreds of kilograms of illicit substances at airports, courier firms, hideouts and destroying hectares of cannabis farms in remote forests.

This is contained in a press statement by the Director Media and advocacy NDLEA headquarters Abuja Mr Femi Babafemi on Sunday.

According to the statement, “attempts by a female passenger, Isesele Obehi and one Emmanuel Chibuzor Omebere to export illicit drugs to Europe through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja were thwarted by narcotic officers who arrested them shortly before they boarded their flights. While Isesele was nabbed on Saturday 11th September, 2021 during outward clearance of Ethiopian Airline flight at Gate B departure hall of the Lagos airport on her way to Milan, Italy with three hundred and twelve (312) sachets of Tramadol, weighing 1.5kg, concealed in crayfish and dried vegetables, Chibuzor was equally caught with 137.45 grams of the same drug concealed in foodstuff at the Abuja airport on Thursday 2nd Sept during outward clearance of Turkish Airline flight to Istanbul, Turkey.”

In the same vein, “efforts by desperate traffickers to export varying sizes of consignments containing cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs through courier firms were also foiled. Some of these include 475grams of heroin concealed in food items going to Canada, 202grams of cocaine hidden in body cream containers going to Australia, 720grams of Cannabis Sativa tucked in computer hard drives heading to United Arab Emirates, UAE and another 2.1kg of cannabis hidden in body cream bottles going to Oman, while 60grams of cocaine concealed in degree certificates meant for Australia was also seized, all from three courier firms in Lagos.” The statement explained.

Meanwhile, “a 38-year-old pregnant woman, Kate Ngozi Nwuju was arrested on Tuesday 14th Sept at her residence in Rumueme, Mile 4 area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state with 4.5kilograms of cannabis following intelligence that she sells drugs.” Pictures below:

More arrests:

Also, “one Aliyu Saidu, suspected to be a fake soldier was arrested with 2.3kg of Cannabis Sativa in a commercial bus from Lagos to Makurdi, on Monday 13th of Sept at Aliade checkpoint, Benue State.”

In Kano, “one Shuaibu Yusuf, was arrested on Friday 17th Sept with 537kg of cannabis sativa, concealed among bags of cement in a truck, while in Ogun state, five persons were arrested on Tuesday 14th Sept after their truck conveying 552kg cannabis was intercepted at Ogere Remo, along Lagos-Ibadan expressway.”

In an related development, “narcotic officers on motorised patrol on Friday 17th Sept, arrested a 21-year-old Law Ubi at Marian Road, Calabar, Cross River state with 67.4 kg cannabis while a follow up search of his residence the following day, Saturday, led to the recovery of 4.2grams of Cocaine from his apartment.”

In Edo, “NDLEA operatives stormed remote forests in Ovia North East area of the state between 8th and 16th Sept, destroyed over 14 hectares of cannabis farms, and recovered 172.6kg of cannabis. Three female and a male suspects were also arrested in raids across Owan East and Akoko Edo areas of the state as different quantities of cannabis and local mixtures called monkey tail were recovered from them.”

Commending the officers and men of the Lagos airport, Abuja airport, Benue, Kano, Ogun, Rivers, Cross River and Edo commands as well as those of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation, DOGI, of the Agency for maintaining the heat on drug dealers, the Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (Retd) said “their efforts further reaffirm our determination that those in this criminal trade will always have the new NDLEA to contend with, whether in their homes, on the streets, at the ports and deep in the forests, we’ll chase them with every legitimate force and smoke them out, up to the last man or woman if they fail to repent.”

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The Gombe State Ministry of Health has announced the arrest of seven Staff of the State Primary Healthcare Development Department in Kwami and Billiri Local Government Areas, for diverting 109 bales of  Insecticide Treated nets, meant for free distribution to the residents of the state.

Speaking with journalists in Gombe, the State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Habu Dahiru, said 100 of the bales of the nets were from Kwami Local Government Area, with four people allegedly implicated in the matter, while the remaining nine bales were from Billiri LGA, where 3 staff of the Primary Healthcare Department were being implicated in it as well.

Dr. Dahiru said based on information of a possible diversion, the police were alerted, the vehicles conveying the nets impounded and the suspected parties arrested,  based on tip-offs from the public.

He said each of the 109 bales of the Insecticide Treated Nets contained 50 pieces of nets, thereby making it 5, 450 pieces of the nets intended for diversion.

 “On 10^th September, a team of state personnel, who were charged with the responsibility of keeping an eye on the process to ensure that the nets do not slip into the wrong hands was tipped by an informant that the nets were loaded into a truck in one of the markets in Gombe Metropolis. These were with the sole intent of diverting them for personal aggrandizement,” Dr. Habu said.

He said The Gombe State Government, with the support of the Global Fund and other partners, Catholic Relief Services and National Malaria Elimination Programme, were distributing free Insecticide Treated nets in Gombe State.

According to him, the door-to-door strategy was adopted to ensure that every citizen of the state received the nets, intended to reduce the burden of Malaria in the state, especially in the most vulnerable groups, such as women and children.

Dr. Dahiru said investigations had implicated some independent marketers, who had also been arrested and identified their co-conspirators, who happened to be four staff of Kwami Local Government Are PHC Department and in police custody, while further investigations continued to unravel the actual occurrence.

“On the same note, the state personnel were tipped off by an informant that a similar situation was unfolding in Billiri LGA.

The police were informed and three staff of the Billiri PHC department were fingered and arrested and they are all in police custody,” said Dr. Dahiru.

He further appreciated the Nigeria Police Force, the DSS and members of the Civil Defence Corps for their roles in ensuring the recovery of the nets.

He said, if found guilty, the culprits would be dealt with according to the civil service rule.

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