Author: Nouman Ali

Vice President Kashim Shettima on Sunday departed Johannesburg, South Africa, for Luanda, Angola, where he is expected to represent President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the 7th African Union-European Union (AU-EU) Summit.

His trip follows the conclusion of his engagements at the 20th G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, where he stood in for the President at high-level sessions on global economic reforms, critical minerals, and artificial intelligence governance.

According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications, Office of the Vice President, Mr. Stanley Nkwocha, the AU-EU Summit is scheduled to hold in the Angolan capital from November 24 to 25, 2025.

The meeting will bring together Heads of State and Government from both blocs, alongside young leaders, innovators, and civil society organisations, to deliberate on shared challenges and opportunities.

Key issues on the agenda include climate change, inclusive development, modern infrastructure, digital economy growth, the creative industries, manufacturing, and agribusiness advancement.

The summit is expected to produce actionable recommendations aimed at deepening AU-EU cooperation and accelerating sustainable development across both continents.

Vice President Shettima is expected back in Nigeria at the end of the summit.

Harvey Barnes fired Newcastle United to a memorable victory against Manchester City in a rip-roaring Premier League contest.

Barnes, who also opened the scoring, prodded home from inside the box to secure all three points at a raucous St James’ Park.

Ruben Dias earlier equalised for the visitors when his effort took a deflection off Fabian Schar after Newcastle failed to clear their lines from a corner.

But Newcastle showed their own powers of recovery to retake the lead a few minutes later.

Jacob Murphy swung the ball into the box and, although Bruno Guimaraes’ header cannoned off the bar, Barnes was in the right place to hook the ball into the net.

It took about 10 riveting years and incompetent legal defence to earn the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu a life sentence. A Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice James Omotosho handed down the sentence last week, ending years of legal rigmarole begun since his arrest in October 2015. IPOB itself was founded in 2012. While delivering his judgement, the judge said of Mr Kanu that ‘He remained arrogant, cocky, and full of himself without realising the magnitude of his crime and the effect of what he has done against his people in the south-east.’ But moments after the sentencing, many notable members of the Southeast elite groaned that they were disappointed and had expected his crimes to be expiated by his freedom fight justifications. A day or so before the sentence was handed down, some 44 members of the House of Representatives acting under the aegis of Concerned Federal Lawmakers, mostly south-easterners, incomprehensibly asked the federal government to discontinue the case in favour of a political solution.

Former senate president Adolphus Wabara decried the life sentence as unjust and tantamount to jailing the whole Igbo race, especially when some Boko Haram commanders had in contrast received lenient sentences. Foreign Affairs minister of state Bianca Ojukwu surprisingly groaned that the judgement was not the outcome they expected, indicating that she was saddened by how the whole affair ended. A political solution would be found, she whined. Some other south-eastern political elites and commentators have threatened electoral backlash should Mr Kanu remain in jail by the next elections. Former Anambra State governor Peter Obi ignored the juridical part of the Kanu affair and adopted sophistry suggesting that the arrest and trial should not have happened in the first instance. In sum, the dominant and vocal Southeast elite are behind Mr Kanu to a man and are unalterably opposed to his jailing. Those in favour of the outcome of the case, including the thousands of victims who suffered untold losses, are not only in the minority, their voices are muted. Given the prevalent mood in the Southeast, their voices will likely not be heard, going forward. Worse, they may even suffer some backlash.

The resentment manifesting in the Southeast is a reflection of the curious logic expounded by their elite. They ignore the deaths and destructions, the economic losses, the trauma suffered by the region, and the dislocations. Instead, they focus on Mr Kanu himself, his charisma, his apparently disarming imperiousness, his legal and radio histrionics, and his boldness and claims of being a freedom fighter. Does the region really believe his story, especially his cartographic fantasies of including parts of Kogi, Benue and the entire South-South in Biafra? Having spread all over Nigeria transacting businesses of all kinds, thus transcending their spatial limitation, do the Igbo political and business elites really support self determination? The truth may never be known. But what is known at the moment is that Mr Kanu’s supporters compare the jailing of their freedom fighter, particularly what they describe as the harshness of his jail term, to how the so-called repentant and captured Boko Haram fighters have been treated. Sen. Wabara even persuaded himself to believe that Mr Kanu never projected violence. Indeed, those who have taken umbrage at his jailing appear to think that the collateral damage suffered by thousands of Igbo in the heat of IPOB campaigns makes the victims expendable and their blood desirable to be shed ‘to water the tree of liberty’.

It is unclear why those who have bawled at alleged serial miscarriage of justice expected the judgement to favour Mr Kanu. In the strictest consideration of the law, and in every material particular, there was no way, even with the best defence, the IPOB leader would have been exculpated. But never one to let bad enough alone, he worsened his own case by repeatedly sacking his legal teams, and finally taking over his defence and botching it. Secondly, despite his personal failings, the weakness of his political cause, his promotion of indiscriminate violence, and his megalomaniacal inclination, it is shocking that someone as abusive and narcissistic like US president Donald Trump could be the darling of the Southeast elite. Has the region not suffered enough? Or do they think the cause of Biafra Mr Kanu claimed to be fighting could be divorced from his personality? Looking at the Southeast, the tragedy is not just the foibles of Mr Kanu but the irresponsibility of the regional elite. Had they sensibly read through Mr Kanu’s motives, and had they courageously defied him and his methods, the Southeast would have escaped the atavism he promoted and the tragic losses many Igbo families endured while Igbo-on-Igbo violence bled the region.

While nothing could exculpate Mr Kanu, given the weight of evidence before the court, the Southeast elite were justified to compare the treatment meted out to Mr Kanu with the mild treatment meted out to terrorists and bandits in the North. Since the outbreak of Boko Haram and later banditry, a powerful section of the northern elite has been supportive and even protective of their terrorists. They inspired an ill-conceived and ill-advised programme of deradicalisation and rehabilitation of so-called repentant Boko Haram fighters, while victims of insurgency enjoy incommensurate attention. And ultimately, they have seemed reluctant to promote or back measures that would lead to the extermination of the insurgents and bandits. Without saying so openly, the ham-handed manner the insurgents and bandits have been treated has given rise to the suspicion that the region sees the militants as a potential standing army for political purposes or projection of power in the event of a fight ensuing between warring ethnic groups for the soul and body of Nigeria. It is not unlikely that the Southeast reasons the same way. If there is any question or confusion about the ineffectiveness of the fight against banditry, insurgency and IPOB, the answer may be located in the special relationships the regional elites have formed with their militant groups.

President Bola Tinubu has the unenviable job of presiding over a government whose members are still torn between the nation’s interest and ethnic, religious and primordial affinities. The case is so bad that some cabinet members’ loyalties cannot be assumed at a time the country is at war with itself. There are some powerful interests in the North sponsoring terrorism, sometimes due to economic/mineral resources interests. And there are also now clearly many powerful interests supporting Mr Kanu and what he represents, and who resent and defy the special treatment they believe the northern militants have received from powerful interests in and out of the federal government. These influential regional interests have given indications that their militants can be deployed during national elections for social, religious, political and territorial objectives. The Southwest remains a comparatively peaceful region today partly because its elite, after some initial hesitations, finally ensured that their incubating militants did not hatch. Time will tell whether they did right, or whether they have not become too complacent and liberal for their own existential good.

Whether other regions outside the Southeast show outrage or not, the campaign to free Mr Kanu will acquire impetus in the coming weeks and months, especially as conjured stories of his treatment in jail get disseminated. Expect passions to be inflamed, as disgruntled regions synergise their efforts to render the Tinubu administration impotent. Abductions will become rife, rescue efforts will be stymied by sabotage, and great national distress will be fomented. But the Kanu affair will be nothing more than a symptom of a great underlying disease gnawing at the body politic. The main will thus disease require brilliant and radical measures to extirpate, assuming that the powerful and embedded interests in the country can be neutralised first.

The Nation Newspaper journalist, Juliana Agbo, has clinched the Best Print Category prize at the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) Africa Media Awards held in Nairobi, Kenya.

Agbo received the continental honour on Friday during the climax of OFAB Africa’s Annual Review and Planning Meeting, which brought together journalists and biotechnology stakeholders from across the continent.

The win added to her growing list of achievements. On November 4, 2025, she had swept the OFAB Nigeria Media Awards, emerging both Best Print and Overall Winner, where she won a HP laptop, Samsung Galaxy Tablet and a cash prize.

Her latest recognition also came with a cash prize, an iPhone 15 Pro, and a certificate.

Representing Nigeria among 38 contestants from 10 African countries, Agbo distinguished herself with a compelling and deeply reported story on agricultural biotechnology, an area increasingly vital to Africa’s food security and climate resilience.

OFAB, a collaborative initiative of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter, operates in 10 countries including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Mozambique and Malawi.

Agbo’s win not only celebrates her professional excellence but also reinforces Nigeria’s rising profile in science and agriculture journalism on the African stage.

After receiving her award, Agbo dedicated the honour to Nigerian journalists committed to impactful development reporting. She expressed optimism that her recognition would ‘inspire more media professionals to engage deeply with science reporting.’

The ceremony drew policymakers, researchers, media leaders, and development partners from across Africa, all united in their call for stronger science communication.

Director of ISAAA AfriCenter, Margaret Karembu, stressed that innovation must be supported by public trust and effective communication to create real impact.

‘We can adopt innovations, we can regulate them but innovation alone is not enough for research to impact people. Communities must trust it. Policymakers must support it. Farmers must feel empowered when they adopt these innovations,’ she said.

According to her, journalists remain at the heart of this process as interpreters of scientific innovations, bridging the gap between laboratories and communities.

By simplifying complex research for public understanding, she said, the media ensures that ‘innovations are not only discovered but effectively applied to improve lives.’

Welcoming guests to the event, Executive Director of AATF, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, described journalists as essential partners in making science accessible to farmers, policymakers, and the public.

Accurate, engaging, and evidence-based reporting, he noted, helps communities embrace agricultural innovations while holding leaders accountable.

Dr. Kanangire emphasised that ‘a well-informed public is crucial for building trust in new technologies and fostering sustainable agricultural development across the continent.’

He added, ‘In an era of remarkable scientific progress, innovation alone is insufficient. It must be matched by effective communication, public trust, and inclusive dialogue.’

He encouraged journalists to keep probing emerging trends, challenging narratives, and ensuring that the benefits of biotechnology reach people equitably. He also praised media organizations for their dedication to integrity, accuracy, and impactful storytelling.

Dr. Kanangire explained that the OFAB program draws from global frameworks such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the African Union Agenda 2063, using biotechnology and strategic communication to empower smallholder farmers, reduce poverty, and strengthen food security.

The initiative, he said, is vital in raising awareness, fostering stakeholder dialogue, and promoting evidence-based policymaking.

The Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy has announced the postponement of the 2025 edition of the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the festival billed to be hosted by Enugu State was scheduled to commence on November 22.

However, the postponement announcement was made in statement by Nneka Anibeze, Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the Minister, in Abuja yesterday.

He said the decision for the postponement was made after a careful assessment of the national mood and the recent problem of insecurity in different parts of the country.

‘In solidarity with the affected families and communities, and out of deep respect for the lives lost, the Minister, Hannatu Musawa, in consultation with stakeholders, has approved the postponement of the festival to a later date.

‘NAFEST has always played a powerful role in nation-building as it brings Nigerians together, strengthens social cohesion, and offers a platform for cultural diplomacy and soft power.

‘NAFEST remains one of the rare national events capable of projecting a different and more accurate picture of Nigeria-a picture of unity, inclusiveness, hospitality, and national confidence.

Unless two things happen, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the separatist leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), will spend the rest of his life in prison, following his conviction on terrorism-related charges by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday, November 20. One, Kanu may be off the hook if President Bola Tinubu decides to exercise his prerogative of mercy powers and, two, if the convict appeals the judgment and finds favour in the eyes of the appellate court.

Justice James Omotosho who delivered the judgment said that prosecutors had proved beyond reasonable doubts that Kanu’s orders and broadcasts incited deadly attacks on security forces and citizens in the southeast. Not only businesses but the entire south east region was usually paralysed whenever Kanu issued sit-at-home orders to the people in the region, banning businesses, schooling and other activities.

Kanu, who was arraigned on a seven-count charge, was convicted on all. The least of the sentence for the offences was imprisonment for five years without an option of fine for count seven, whilst the maximum punishment for terrorism was death penalty. However, Justice Omotosho noted that death sentence was becoming anachronistic; he also considered the allocutus made on Kanu’s behalf to hand him the life sentence despite the prosecutor’s plea that he be handed the stiffest punishment of death by hanging till he be pronounced dead. A fair deal, if you ask me; considering the havoc Kanu and his goons had caused not only to security agencies but also his people who defied his sit-at-home orders in his heyday.

According to Justice Omotosho, ‘The court finds that the defendant, Nnamdi Kanu, is an international terrorist and must be treated accordingly.’ He added that ‘His intention was quite clear as he believed in violence. These threats of violence were nothing but terrorist acts.’

It is significant that Kanu was cantankerous for the better part of the trial. Indeed, on the day of judgment, this cantankerousness reached a crescendo as he lambasted Justice Omotosho who he said did not know the law. The 58-year-old secessionist leader who had earlier dismissed his legal team and represented himself during the trial, had to be ejected from the court for ‘unruly’ behaviour. ‘Which law states that you can charge me on an unwritten law? Show me,’ Kanu said before he was removed from the court. ‘Omotosho, where is the law? Any judgment declared in this court is complete rubbish’, he said.

Kanu was first arrested in 2015, and taken into custody in October of the same year, and slammed with multiple charges, including treasonable felony. He was granted bail 18 months later from where he disappeared, or jumped bail, as it were, before he was reportedly arrested in Kenya in controversial circumstances in 2021.

IPOB, like some other Igbo separatist movements sought to revive the short-lived state of Biafra, which seceded from Nigeria in 1967. The secession sparked a three-year civil war that lasted from 1967 to 1970, and which claimed the lives of about three million people. But, after Biafra troops surrendered to the federal troops in 1970, the then General Yakubu Gowon military regime came up with a policy to reintegrate the Eastern Region back into the country under its three ‘Rs’ of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation, and Reconstruction.

Somehow, years after, some people in the eastern region still felt the country was not fair to them and had formed several secessionist movements to protest against what they see as political and economic marginalisation. In the course of doing that, some of them have had to rally indigenes of the region in the diaspora to donate to the agitation for independence, including training militia in the region’s forests.

It is unfortunate that IPOB that was formed in 2012 as a peaceful movement later metamorphosed and launched an armed wing in south-eastern Nigeria in 2020, ostensibly to defend the Igbo ethnic group.

We have had other Igbo separatist groups like the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), which was founded by Ralph Uwazuruike in 1999. But he adopted the principle of nonviolence as propagated by Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., as the philosophy of the struggle. Naturally, he was detained several times and charged with treason in Nigerian courts.

Of course we also had the Simon Ekpa wing of IPOB that broke away from its parent body and was led by Ekpa, who was only in September jailed for terrorism against Nigeria, in faraway Finland. Between the two factions of IPOB, the geopolitical risk consultancy SBM Intelligence, had claimed that as many as ‘700 deaths have been linked to separatist militants since 2021, including a May 2024 incident where five soldiers and six others were killed in an ambush in Abia State. During the conflict, military personnel have also been implicated in multiple cases of human rights abuses.’

Even the court that sentenced Kanu said that the prosecution proved that about 175 security personnel lost their lives; 134 police stations were destroyed and nine offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were burnt on the orders of Kanu in his broadcasts. This was apparently why the court said Kanu should forfeit the transmitter used for his broadcasts to the Federal Government.

These are not all. The court also found Kanu culpable of incitement in the destruction of government properties in Lagos during the EndSARS protest in 2020, as well as that Kanu had called upon his listeners or supporters to attack the British High Commission in Nigeria.

All of these made Justice Omotosho to conclude that ‘His action was aimed at causing anarchy, which will in turn lead to the breakdown of law and order. His evil intention was to wreak havoc on the people of Nigeria. Were all these actions for self-determination? The answer is No’, Justice Omotosho concluded.

It is instructive that it is not only the Igbo in the southeastern part of the country that are crying of marginalisation. Several other parts of the country also have one grievance or the other against the Nigerian state, including the south-south region where the country’s golden eggs are being laid. Other parts of the country had also suffered one form of marginalisation or the other at one time or the other.

Even at that, it is not that people cannot agitate for ethnic or whatever freedom. But there are constitutionally laid-down processes for doing this, as Justice Omotosho noted while delivering his judgment. ‘Agitations for self-determination can only pass through the constitutional amendment through the National Assembly’, the judge said. But Kanu’s model deviated from this norm to embrace violence, illegal broadcasts, incitement, intimidation, threats and actual commission of crimes, including murder, to promote whatever cause he believed he was promoting.

In actual fact, both Kanu and Ekpa committed virtually the same crime. While Kanu committed his own crime within, Ekpa was throwing violence across the seas to Nigeria from abroad. Ekpa activated the Biafra Government In Exile (BGIE) in 2022, and in 2023 declared himself leader of the government. The Federal Government protested to the Finnish authorities which initially seemed not keen on arresting him (a thing some people initially attributed to his being a Finnish citizen of Nigerian origin). Indeed, at a point, the Nigerian government called for his extradition, so he could come and face justice at home. In March, 2024, the Nigerian Army declared him and 96 others wanted for terrorism, violent extremism and secessionist threats.

He was eventually arrested in Finland, in 2023. Ekpa’s trial which ran from May 30, 2025, to June 25, 2025, consisted of only 12 days of hearings as the verdict which sentenced him to six years in prison was delivered on September 1, 2025.

This was a remarkable difference from that of Kanu that lasted a whole 10 years (2015-2025). Granted that the wheel of justice travels at a snail’s speed in Nigeria, Kanu made his spectacularly so. Apart from jumping bail, he has had cause to use delay tactic to prolong his trial. He had cause to reject at least three justices from sitting on his matter, citing either bias or lack of jurisdiction. Justice Omotosho who eventually decided the case was the fourth judge to sit on it. He too might have been put off by Kanu’s unruly behaviour even in the face of the court, but for his patience. All kinds of excuses that would not be tolerated in courts elsewhere were tolerated in the matter. So, Kanu is the architect of his own fortune as he even at a point fired his entire defence team and decided to defend himself. However, despite its slow pace, and Kanu’s grandstanding, it is gratifying that a court of competent jurisdiction eventually found him guilty and sentenced him accordingly. If Ekpa could be convicted in Finland, why should Kanu’s case be different? This is why it is surprising that some people are wondering why Kanu should be convicted. Why did they not raise eyebrows when Ekpa was convicted? Is it because Kanu was tried in Nigeria?

It would seem to me that Obi Aguocha, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Ikwuano/Umuahia North/Umuahia South Federal Constituency of Abia State, who delivered the allocutus on behalf of Kanu at the court shortly before Justice Omotosho delivered his judgment in the case of the Federal Government of Nigeria vs. Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, loved the accused more than the accused loves himself, given the sober manner he delivered the allocutus. ‘My lord, I am the direct representative of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. That is why you see me here almost every time, showing presence and solidarity with him.’ Aguocha explained that he and Kanu attended primary and secondary school together, noting that despite being Kanu’s senior, he felt a personal responsibility to speak for him, especially in his capacity as a federal lawmaker.

But Kanu and his co-travellers should have seen what eventually befell him coming. It could not have been otherwise, given the gravity of the charges levelled against him. Neither terrorism nor treasonable felony is a minor crime.

I know Kanu has his admirers as he indeed received royal treatment in his heyday; with some prominent Igbo personalities paying homage to him. The fact of the matter is that the law is the law. It is no respecter of anybody.

It is good we have finally had a closure to the matter, unless Kanu appeals the judgment. If he does and the judgment is reversed, fine. Otherwise, it is President Tinubu we should all look up to for prerogative of mercy. Given Kanu’s recalcitrance, the latter option seems more like it.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has said it has dismantled no fewer than six syndicates, leading to the seizure of tons of assorted illicit drugs and the arrest of nine kingpins in a series of intelligence-led interdiction operations.

Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

Babafemi said in one of such operations, NDLEA officers on Tuesday 18th November 2025 arrested two members of a drug trafficking organization in Onitsha, Anambra state when they showed up to take delivery of 5.40 kilograms of methamphetamine; 10.70 kilograms of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis; 16grams of cocaine; 200grams of phenacetin; 200grams of methcathinone and 100grams of caffeine concealed in pressure machine cylinders imported from South Africa.

‘The first to show up at a logistics company in Onitsha for the collection of the consignments was 30-year-old electrical appliances dealer Ebulue Lotanwa Uzochukwu who was promptly arrested while shortly after, another member of the syndicate 51-year-old South Africa returnee Christopher Michael Ndibuisi showed up and was equally arrested.

‘The consignments had arrived the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja-Lagos with airway bill number 118-12882973 arriving from South Africa on a Tag-Angola flight on 13th November 2025 and was immediately seized based on credible intelligence. A follow up sting operation was thereafter organized in Onitsha, Anambra state where the recipients: Uzochukwu and Ndibuisi were arrested.

‘In another operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives on Thursday 20th November intercepted a brake servo automobile part used to conceal 48 pellets and a block of cocaine with a gross weight of 2.30 kilograms packed among other auto parts going to Gabon.

Following the arrest of a freight agent Ameh Solomon who presented the consignment for export, a follow up at ASMPDA market, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo Lagos led to the arrest of an auto parts dealer Nwafor Tochukwu Boniface,’ the statement reads.

Babafemi said in Kogi state, NDLEA operatives on Monday 17th November intercepted a trailer conveying 4,700 kilograms of skunk, a strain of cannabis at Kabba.

According to the statement, three suspects: Solomon Dauda, Friday Garba and Daniel Danladi accompanying the consignment were arrested while a follow up operation in Jos, Plateau state on Friday 21st November led to the arrest of the kingpin who owns the trailer and the illicit drug consignment, Marcus Danladi Dan Mangu.

The statement reads, ‘A couple: 55-year-old Onun Okoi Okpotum and his wife 52-year-old Itam Okoi Okpotum were arrested on Wednesday, 19th November at their warehouse located at 13 Park road, Ugep Yakur LGA, Cross River state, where 362 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 4,706 kilograms were recovered.

‘In Edo state, two ladies: Praise Nwogu, 19, and Ebong Emem Oghosa, 25, who specialize in the production and online sale of brownies laced with illicit drugs, were on Saturday, 22nd November arrested in Benin City. At the point of their arrest, Praise Nwogu was found with 12 plates and a cup of drug-laced brownies laced while Ebong Emem Oghosa was nabbed with 76grams of skunk, 1.5grams of Colorado, and drug-laced brownies.

‘A raid at Ososo village, Akoko Edo LGA, on Tuesday, 18th November, led to the arrest of 35-year-old Shedrack Aminu, who was found with 59kg of skunk.

‘Operatives on patrol along Enugu/Onitsha road, Enugu, on Wednesday, 19th November, intercepted a suspect, Chinoso Emmanuel Monday, 24, conveying 10.1kg skunk; 105,600 pills of tramadol 250mg, 225mg, and 100mg as well as 700 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 3000 rounds of live ammunition.’

Babafemi said in Kebbi state, 13,155 bottles of codeine-based syrup were evacuated from a warehouse located at Dole-Kaina, Dandi LGA, while a 23-year-old suspect, Umar Adamu, was arrested with 12,548 pills of opioids concealed in paracetamol containers heading to a Boko Haram enclave in Minok area of Borno state on Friday, 21st November.

He said two suspects, Anthony Mercy, 40, and Sunday Augustine, 39, were arrested on Monday, 17th November, with 430.5kg by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Abaji- Abuja expressway in the FCT, while Samson Dafe, 47, was arrested at Dikko junction, Kaduna road, Tafa LGA, Niger state on Tuesday, 18th November, conveying 85,100 pills of opioids and 5,456 bottles of codeine syrup in his Sharon vehicle marked ABJ 114 BV.

He added that the premises of a suspect, Sani Mohammed, in Anguwan Makera Kuta, Shiroro LGA, were raided on Thursday, 20th November raided with 437 blocks of compressed skunk weighing 471.8 kilograms recovered.

It reads, ‘In Lagos, a suspect, Usman Ayoola Adegoke, was arrested in connection with the seizure of 139 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 71kg at an apartment in Lekki, while a lady, Oluchi Celestine, was nabbed on Tuesday, 18th November nabbed in Lekki with 2.6kg Colorado packaged in branded containers and some concealed in flight boarding cards.

‘Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives supported by some military personnel on Monday, 17th November, raided the notorious Peti illicit drug enclave, Lagos Island, where 385 kilograms of skunk, Loud and Colorado were recovered and two suspects arrested.

‘No less than 163,200 capsules of tramadol 225mg were also recovered in another operation at a motor park in the Maza Maza area of Lagos.

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, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week.

‘These include: WADA sensitization lecture to students and staff of Baptist High School, Ilero, Oyo state; St. Michael Anglican Primary School, Afuye Epe, Lagos; Government Day Senior and Junior Secondary School, Kurami, Katsina; Women Day Secondary, Kontogora, Niger state; Government Day Secondary School, Takatuku, Sokoto; St. Paul’s College, Eke, Enugu; and Iwoye Area Community High School, Iwoye, Ogun state, among others.

‘While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Lagos, Kogi, Edo, Cross River, Enugu, Kebbi, Niger, Borno, and FCT Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.’

Justifying the current heavy crackdown on drug trafficking syndicates, Marwa said the coming festive season is usually a period often exploited by criminal elements, hence the Agency has decided to launch a relentless offensive on drug trafficking cartels across the nation.

‘The coming weeks present both an opportunity and a challenge. Drug cartels may attempt to increase their illegal activities, seeking to profit during the busy holiday period. We must not, and we will not, let down our guard’, he said.