Category: Nigerian Tribune

Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command, have arrested two suspected child traffickers and rescued a four-year-old girl in Kuje Area of the FCT.

The suspects, identified as Rose Daniel and Blessing John, were arrested on August 27, 2026, while attempting to escape with the child, identified as Ummi Mariam Abdullah.

According to a statement by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, the suspects were apprehended following a tip-off from a vigilant member of the community who observed the incident and alerted the police.

‘Responding swiftly to the report, Police operatives arrived at the scene, rescued the child and arrested both suspects.

‘Preliminary investigations revealed that the two suspects had earlier been arrested in December 2025 and arraigned for a similar offence. They were subsequently convicted and released on bail after spending about five months in prison.

‘Further investigation showed that since their release, the suspects had abducted and trafficked four children to different parts of the country.

‘In the most recent case, two children were allegedly taken to an accomplice in Port Harcourt identified only as ‘Madam Ijeoma,’ who reportedly bought each child for N1.5 million.

‘The rescued four-year-old girl has since been reunited with her family. The suspects remain in police custody and will be charged to court at the conclusion of investigations.’ The statement stated.

According to the statement, the FCT Police Command urged parents and guardians to remain vigilant about the safety and whereabouts of their children.

Members of the public were also encouraged to report suspicious persons or activities to the nearest police station or through the Command’s emergency lines: 08032003913, 08028940883, Complaint Response Unit 08107314192, and PPRO FCT 07038979348.

A global stockpile of mpox vaccines has been launched in a move aimed at preventing a repeat of the shortages and inequalities that left poorer countries struggling to protect their populations during previous outbreaks.

The initiative, launched on 27 August, is particularly significant for Africa, which accounts for about two-thirds of reported mpox cases globally. The new reserve is expected to begin operations later this month, giving countries access to vaccines during outbreaks without waiting for doses to be secured after an emergency has escalated.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said the launch marked ‘an important step towards a more sustainable and equitable approach to mpox outbreak response’.

‘By establishing a dedicated global stockpile, using an approach that has proven successful for managing other emergency vaccines, we are ensuring that countries can access them more quickly when they need them, saving lives and containing outbreaks before they spread further,’ he added.

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director, said mpox could be particularly devastating for children, not only because of its physical effects but also because of the stigma, interrupted learning and fear that can accompany isolation from family and friends.

‘This vital initiative will help us quickly get vaccines to the children, families, and communities most at risk of the disease,’ she said.

Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General and CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), welcomed the development, saying access to vaccines for all those who need them was ‘absolutely vital’.

‘That’s why this global coordination mechanism and vaccine stockpile matter. Both will help ensure vaccines reach the people and communities at greatest risk – when and where they are needed most. This is rare good news,’ he said.

The development comes as mpox continues to spread in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, where governments face the additional challenge of animal-to-human transmission alongside person-to-person spread.

Between January 2022 and 31 July 2026, 145 countries and territories reported 190,683 confirmed mpox cases and 529 deaths.

For African health authorities, the stockpile could help address one of the most persistent problems in the global response to infectious diseases: those facing the greatest burden are often among the last to receive the tools needed to control it.

During the 2022 mpox outbreak, lower-income countries struggled to obtain vaccines as wealthier nations moved to secure limited supplies.

The new stockpile is funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and will be coordinated by the International Coordinating Group (ICG) on Vaccine Provision. The ICG comprises the IFRC, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF and the World Health Organisation.

The mechanism builds on an allocation system established in 2024 during the previous mpox Public Health Emergency of International Concern to ensure countries can access vaccines more quickly and equitably during outbreaks.

Mpox is primarily spread through close physical contact, including sexual contact. In parts of Africa, however, animal-to-human transmission continues to pose a threat, creating opportunities for new outbreaks and complicating efforts to contain the disease.

The illness can be particularly severe in children and people with suppressed immune systems. Its impact can also extend beyond the disease itself, contributing to stigma, isolation and interrupted schooling, while placing additional pressure on already stretched health systems.

For Africa, where the majority of reported global mpox cases continue to occur, the significance of the new stockpile will ultimately depend on how quickly vaccines can move from the global reserve to communities facing outbreaks.

The initiative offers a potential shift from scrambling for vaccines after an outbreak has intensified to having doses available in advance. But ensuring that those vaccines reach the people most at risk will require strong surveillance, rapid allocation, effective delivery systems and sustained support for African health systems.

The Nigerian naira gained against the United States (US) dollar, trading at N1,329.4300 at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) official foreign exchange (FX) window on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

The data shared on the CBN’s official platform shows that the naira traded at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) rate of N1,329.4300 per dollar and closed at N1,329.0000 per dollar.

The currency, which traded at an NFEM rate of N1,332.9396 on August 31, 2026, appreciated by at least N3.51 after trading activities on Tuesday.

At the parallel market, the buying rate increased by N2 while the selling rate remained the same when compared to the previous trading rate on Monday, August 31, 2026.

According to Aboki FX, the Naira-to-dollar exchange rate at the black market on Tuesday, August 31st, 2026, was N1,400 and N1,405 per dollar for buying and selling rates, respectively.

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said President Bola Tinubu cannot determine how state and local governments spend the additional revenue they receive following the removal of fuel subsidy.

Wike made the remark on Wednesday during a media parley in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, while responding to comments by former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate, Peter Obi, concerning the utilisation of funds generated from the subsidy removal.

The former Rivers State governor argued that rather than criticising the Federal Government, Obi should focus on how the increased allocations are being spent by the state and local governments.

According to Wike, the Federal Government had already distributed the gains from subsidy removal to the sub-national governments, leaving each tier of government with the responsibility of determining how its funds should be used.

He said, ‘All he should have asked is, ‘Having removed the subsidy, what do you do with the gains?’ This is what I think a reasonable person should talk about.

‘Now, the government has said the gains have been shared among sub-nationals. Tinubu has no power to say, ‘State, this is what you should do with the funds that you’ve brought in from the fuel subsidy.’

‘He has no power to tell local governments what to do with their money. All tiers of government are independent.’

Wike further maintained that the increase in federal allocations had strengthened the finances of many states, enabling them to meet obligations such as salaries and pensions while also implementing development projects.

He said the removal of the subsidy had eased the financial pressures previously experienced by several state governments.

‘Today states are saying, unlike before, we can’t pay salaries or pensions, and there are strikes all over the place. Now there are no strikes; there are advantages. Now, I have money to carry out projects,’ he said.

The FCT minister also defended Tinubu’s decision to remove the petrol subsidy, describing it as a difficult but courageous policy choice that previous administrations had avoided.

Wike said the focus should now shift to ensuring that states account for the increased revenue they have received.

‘Tinubu deserves kudos for taking the bold decision no president took. Now, it’s time for states to account for the funds they have gotten,’ Wike said.

Oyo State House of Assembly has called for the establishment of Special Criminal Divisions within the state High Court to fast-track the trial of serious offences, including kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery, murder, rape and cultism.

The call followed a motion sponsored by the lawmaker representing the Ibadan North-West Constituency, Hon. Dawood Olalere, who raised concerns over prolonged criminal proceedings, congested court dockets and the growing number of awaiting-trial inmates.

Olalere said increasing cases of violent and organised crimes, particularly kidnapping, banditry and attacks in parts of northern Oyo, required a more responsive criminal justice system.

He noted that although judicial officers had remained committed to their duties, the handling of both civil and criminal matters by the High Courts had contributed to frequent adjournments and delays in the determination of criminal cases.

According to him, speedy adjudication is essential to maintaining public confidence in the judiciary, strengthening the rule of law and ensuring that perpetrators of serious crimes are brought to justice without undue delay.

Olalere said the proposed Special Criminal Divisions would allow designated judges and courtrooms to focus on criminal matters, improve case management and accelerate trials.

He also warned that delays could discourage victims and witnesses from cooperating with security agencies, weaken the deterrent effect of prosecution and contribute to overcrowding in custodial facilities.

The lawmaker urged the Chief Judge of Oyo State and the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice to establish dedicated Criminal Divisions across the state’s judicial divisions.

He also called on the state government to provide adequate funding, judicial personnel and technology, including digital case-management systems and electronic recording facilities, to support the initiative.

The motion proposed greater coordination among the Judiciary, Ministry of Justice, Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Nigerian Correctional Service, Nigerian Bar Association and other stakeholders to accelerate investigations and prosecution.

Olalere further advocated funding for witness protection, victim-support services and free legal aid for indigent defendants, stressing that speedy trials must be balanced with the right to a fair hearing.

He urged the Attorney-General to establish and adequately staff a specialised unit within the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to handle cases before the proposed Criminal Divisions and provide regular training for prosecutors.

Security agencies were also urged to speed up investigations and promptly transmit case files to the Ministry of Justice to prevent delays in prosecution.

The Nigerian Correctional Service, Oyo State Command, was asked to provide regular records of awaiting-trial inmates and facilitate virtual hearings where appropriate to expedite arraignment and trial.

The Assembly’s Committee on Public Petitions, Justice and Judiciary was tasked with liaising with the Ministry of Justice and the Judiciary on implementation and reporting progress to the House.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the alleged Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, has raised questions over the role of officials in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in allocating an office at the Federal Secretariat to the head of the agency under investigation.

Gagdi said the committee was examining how Prince Adeniyi Adeyemi, who allegedly headed the PFIPC, secured an office within the Federal Secretariat despite questions over the legal existence of the agency.

Speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Gagdi said accommodation for public servants at the Federal Secretariat ordinarily falls under the authority of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), making the allocation of the office through the SGF’s office a matter requiring further investigation.

He said the committee was particularly interested in correspondence from the SGF’s office to the Head of Service requesting office accommodation for presidential special assistants.

According to Gagdi, some permanent secretaries in the SGF’s office had been suspended over issues connected with such requests, adding that the committee was examining the circumstances surrounding the allocation.

He said the committee would seek further clarification from the Head of Service on the process through which the office was allocated and the identities of those who authorised or facilitated the arrangement.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee was investigating whether the office occupied by the alleged PFIPC head had previously been assigned to another presidential official.

He said security sources informed the committee that the same office may previously have been occupied by a Special Adviser on Economic Affairs during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

The committee, he added, had written to the Head of Service to provide information on the history of the office, its allocation and previous occupants.

The lawmaker said the issue was part of a wider investigation into how an agency whose legal status was in dispute managed to secure government facilities and become embedded in the administrative structure of the Federal Government.

Gagdi said the committee had also uncovered documents allegedly used to establish and operationalise the agency, some of which he described as forged or questionable.

He alleged that Adeyemi used a State House letterhead to create the nomenclature ‘Office of the Director Administration and Support Service’, despite the committee’s finding that such an office did not exist in the Presidential Villa.

He further alleged that an individual identified as Akambi Adewale, described in one of the documents as a director, could not be found on the State House nominal roll.

Gagdi said the committee obtained the nominal roll from the State House and found no such staff member from the creation of the institution to date.

The committee chairman said it had also examined an alleged appointment letter, State House approval, request for a budget code, a purported Act of the National Assembly and other documents connected with the agency.

He said the purported Act was not authenticated or gazetted and lacked what he described as a ‘springboard number’.

The committee is also examining alleged discrepancies in State House letterheads, logos and reference numbers appearing on some of the documents.

On the financial aspect of the investigation, Gagdi disclosed that the committee had uncovered 12 agencies allegedly operating under one Bank Verification Number (BVN), as well as 58 active bank accounts.

‘When a man can have 12 agencies with one BVN, knowingly well that it can be traced and it can be found, 12! If a man can have 58 accounts that are active, active, 58, that money comes in and goes, you can’t underestimate what such a person can do,’ he said.

He said the committee was conducting forensic analysis of thousands of pages of bank statements to establish the sources and destinations of funds that passed through the accounts.

Gagdi stressed that the committee had not found evidence that government funds were released to PFIPC, despite the agency securing a budget code.

He said the agency only appeared in the 2026 budget and that no appropriated funds had been released to it.

‘It has not been released… no one Naira as far as appropriation is concerned,’ he said.

The lawmaker, however, said the financial records contained transactions involving individuals, contractors, companies and family members.

‘There was a financial transaction not from government, from individuals, contractors, companies, from brothers, from family members that come in and go out,’ he said.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee identified about three accounts allegedly operated by the agency with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said the Accountant-General of the Federation had communicated with the CBN to open the accounts based on representations that necessary documentation and approvals had been completed by relevant government offices.

‘They were misled,’ he said.

The committee chairman further said the investigation had established that Adeyemi did not operate alone, describing the alleged operation as involving ‘a lot of accomplices’.

He said the committee was examining the roles of various individuals and officials who may have facilitated the agency’s operations.

Gagdi also disclosed that the committee had interrogated Adeyemi while he was in police custody after the police informed lawmakers that he was being held pursuant to a court order.

He said the committee chose not to compel the police to produce him before the lawmakers, noting that doing so could undermine judicial supremacy and separation of powers.

Instead, members of the committee visited him at the police facility and conducted a closed-door interrogation.

Gagdi declined to disclose details of the interrogation because Adeyemi was still facing investigations by the ICPC, EFCC and the police cybercrime unit.

He said the committee had received three petitions concerning the matter, none of which was against former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu.

One petitioner, according to Gagdi, alleged that he was defrauded of N400 million after being brought from Ibadan to Abuja and shown a residence.

He said the petitioner presented evidence of four separate transfers totalling N400 million, allegedly representing Adeyemi’s share for facilitating the release of N2 billion for a contract awarded to an Ibadan-based contractor.

On former Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Gagdi said the committee had not ruled out inviting anyone if evidence warranted such action.

He said a document purportedly signed by Gbajabiamila had been presented to the committee, but comparison with other official documents raised questions about its authenticity.

According to him, between 19 and 22 government agencies submitted exhibits and correspondence that did not tally with the disputed appointment letter.

Gagdi said the committee therefore considered the document questionable and did not invite Gbajabiamila at that stage.

‘If the evidence relevant before us have warranted inviting Femi, if we have invited Secretary to the Government of the Federation, why can’t we invite Right Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila?’ he asked.

He said the committee’s ultimate task was to establish how an agency whose legal status was in dispute became incorporated into the Federal Government’s administrative and budgetary system.

Gagdi disclosed that the committee had asked the House to expand its mandate to conduct a legislative audit of government agencies across the country.

‘If you check our press briefing, we have asked the House to expand the mandate of the committee to do like a legislative auditing of all legitimate agencies that are existing in Nigerian Federation,’ he said.

He said the audit would help determine which agencies were created by military proclamation, presidential orders or legislation by the National Assembly and identify institutions whose legal foundations require further scrutiny.

Gagdi stressed that the committee’s findings were preliminary and that a final report would be presented before the House with recommendations for consideration and possible implementation.

SINCE the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, released the Official Campaign Timetable for the 2027 General Elections, all attention has shifted to Abuja. In the timetable, campaigns for Presidential and National Assembly Elections begin on Tuesday, 19 August 2026 and end on 15 January 2027, exactly 24 hours before the elections scheduled for 16 January 2027.

Governorship and State Houses of Assembly Elections campaigns begin on Wednesday, 9 September 2026 and end on Friday, 5 February 2027, a day before the 6 February 2027 elections.

Political parties and candidates are expected to begin public campaigns – including rallies, media advertisements, voter engagement, and grassroots mobilization within the respective periods.

This development has again brought to the fore the need for the Supreme Court to speedily resolve the judicial hijack of the Labour Party, LP as the lower courts overstepped by wading into LP’s internal affairs and misapplying the April 4, 2025 precedent.

Instructively, LP was not registered in Abuja boardrooms but built in wards, unions, and at polling units by ordinary Nigerians who believed a people’s party was possible. Millions of ordinary Nigerians ranging from workers, artisans, traders, students, transporters, etc. joined the LP movement not because of its popularity, but because they saw it as theirs and decided to own it, promote it and protect it to the extent of waking up to be at polling units as early as 6am during elections.

That is why this moment hurts. Not because of names or factions, but of what is at stake: whether a party built, supported and promoted by ordinary Nigerians can be taken away by court orders and elite bargains? That is why the dispute now before the Supreme Court is about whether our courts will protect the rule of law, or normalize judicial hijacking of political parties?

As the Supreme Court prepares to speak again, one enjoins it to revisit its earlier verdict of April 4, 2025 when it said: ‘We will not be used to hijack a party.’ That day, their Lordships did three critical things that the lower courts blatantly ignored or overlooked.

First, they protected jurisdiction. The Court reminded everyone that judges do not run parties and pointed everyone back to the Constitution and the party’s own rules.

Second, it affirmed that membership, discipline, and leadership of a political party are its internal matters. It did not declare anyone the national chairman. It did not dissolve any NEC. It said, in essence: ‘This house has its own landlord. Go settle it there first.’ That is judicial wisdom.

Third, it preserved the status quo ante. The Supreme Court neither declared Abure’s seat vacant nor installed a new leadership. By refusing to make that declaration, it technically left things as they were before the litigation and told the parties to go back to their constitution.

That was the law.

As we await a balanced ruling expected to address the areas where the lower courts missed it, four legal pillars demand the Supreme Court’s attention.

First, jurisdiction was breached when the Federal High Court, per Justice Lifu, issued an order directing INEC to recognise the Nenadi-LP faction. That directive crossed from adjudication into administration. Section 6 of the Constitution vests judicial power in courts to interpret laws, not run political parties. Section 82(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 also places the conduct of party congresses and leadership succession within party constitutions. Therefore, a court without jurisdiction is like a driver without a license – no matter the intention, the act is void. If this stands, any member can run to court tomorrow to install a national chairman or executives in any party. That is nothing more than judicial endorsement and a judicial hijack, not rule of law.

Second, internal affairs was inverted: The Court of Appeal described the Nenadi-LP NEC as a product of ‘doctrine of necessity.’ With respect, necessity cannot override a party’s constitution. You cannot use a legal phrase to break into a house and then call it renovation. April 4, 2025 told us to stay out. The lower courts walked in. The Supreme Court has consistently held that matters of party membership, discipline, and leadership are non-justiciable internal affairs. The purpose is simple: judges are not delegates of party conventions.

Yet the lower courts cited internal affairs and then did the opposite. The Court of Appeal, in its ruling described the Nenadi-LP faction’s NEC as arising from a ‘doctrine of necessity’ thereby constituting a label used to justify stepping into the internal management of the party and validating a parallel structure. That is not deference. That is intervention. You cannot use the shield of ‘internal affairs’ to justify the very intrusion the doctrine forbids.

Third, the April 4, 2025 status quo precedent was destroyed by misapplying the Supreme Court decision. By giving recognition and directives, the lower courts did what the Supreme Court deliberately refused to do on April 4, 2025. They declared a winner. They altered the status quo. They turned judicial restraint into judicial action. On April 4, 2025, Nigeria’s highest Court reminded us that courts must exercise restraint where party constitutions provide internal mechanisms. The principle was to prevent forum shopping and judicial overreach. Both the Lifu order and the Appeal Court’s ‘doctrine of necessity’ reasoning stand in direct tension with that guidance. This creates a dangerous contradiction. The Supreme Court is the final custodian of its own pronouncements. Only it can reconcile the record and ensure the April 4, 2025 judgment is applied as intended: hands off internal leadership, unless a clear constitutional breach is shown. Here, no such breach was proven, only competing claims that deliberately shifted attention away from the sanctity of the 2024 Owerri LP convention to the issue of claiming INEC leadership recognition within the party.

Fourth, the need to protect the ordinary people against the elites. The LP was founded, funded by workers, students, and market people. They have legitimate expectations that it will not be taken from them through technical court orders.

If the judiciary becomes the route for late-coming rich and powerful elites to bypass party structures, we incentivize litigation over organisation. That kills grassroots democracy. The Supreme Court has always guarded against that in many landmark political cases past and recent; it chose substance over technicality and the people over powerful interests.

Why this matters to ordinary Nigerians now:

Going by the Supreme Court landmark decision of April 4, 2025, courts are not allowed to choose party leaders. If not, no party is safe and democracy will be in danger as the future of any political party can be re-written in a courtroom.

The ordinary Nigerians, the owners of LP, now look up to the judges again with honour, respect and with hope that they will consider all grounds of the new appeal awaiting ruling holistically: the Lifu order; the doctrine of necessity; how April 4, 2025 Supreme Court ruling was misapplied and the helpless situation of LP proprietors – the ordinary people now at the mercy of powerful late comer elites.

The issue at stake is not about Abure or Nenadi but the Constitution. The judges should pick the law; set aside orders that overreach; reaffirm jurisdictional limits. Most importantly, reaffirm that by not openly declaring the national chairman’s seat vacant on April 4, 2025 the Supreme Court intended the status quo ante to remain until the party’s internal organs, procedures and processes are reorganised to decide otherwise.

Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat (ARDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has carried out a field evaluation of its ongoing two-week mass rabies vaccination exercise across the 62 wards of the six area councils in the FCT.

The assessment follows the rollout of the initiative aimed at containing a recent rabies outbreak recorded in Gwagwalada and Kuje Area Councils, following directives from the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, to curtail the spread of the disease.

Monitoring the exercise on Wednesday in Kuje and Gwagwalada Area Councils, the ARDS Mandate Secretary, Comrade Abdullahi Suleiman Ango, evaluated the field operations and expressed confidence that the Secretariat would reach its target of 15,000 to 20,000 vaccinated dogs within the two-week timeframe.

Ango emphasised that direct field supervision is necessary to evaluate the efficacy of the deployment and ensure data integrity.

‘One of the cardinal tenets of efficiency, efficacy, and a result-oriented exercise is supervision and monitoring.

‘When you represent the Honourable Minister, you have to be physically present to inspect and see what exactly is being done to report accurately,’ Ango said.

Assessing the reach of the intervention, Ango noted that outside the initial cases in Gwagwalada and Kuje, no further outbreaks have been recorded across the Territory.

‘Our target is 15,000 to 20,000 dogs. We have the firm conviction that with this, we are going to stop whatever we are scared or afraid is going to happen.

‘We have over 100 experienced veterinary officers on the field, so two weeks is sufficient to cover the FCT,’ he stated.

Evaluating the technical aspects of the campaign, the Director of Veterinary Services, Dr. Karnak Dandam, noted that over 100 veterinary personnel and an initial batch of 12,000 vaccine doses are currently deployed to ensure coverage across all wards.

‘Rabies is a deadly disease. If a rabid dog bites a human and post-exposure treatment is not administered immediately, death is inevitable once clinical symptoms manifest.

‘However, it is 100 percent preventable if the primary vectors, specifically dogsare vaccinated,’ Dr. Dandam stated, adding that vaccinating dogs eliminates the risk of human transmission.

Feedback collected from beneficiaries during the inspection showed strong community participation, particularly among local hunters and dog owners.

Nation Yusuf, a dog owner who brought his animals for their first rabies shot, noted that the exercise replaced his previous reliance on unverified home treatments.

Similarly, Bashir Yusuf, a local hunter presenting three dogs for immunisation, stated that the ongoing exercise provided timely veterinary care for his hunting animals.

Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) has raised the alarm over rising activities of fraudsters, warning teachers, school owners and prospective applicants against falling victim to individuals and groups allegedly using the council’s name and identity to defraud members of the public.

Registrar and Chief Executive of TRCN, Dr. Ronke Soyombo, while expressing concerns over the development in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja, said the council had become aware of fraudulent activities involving the use of its name, logo and reputation to deceive and extort money from unsuspecting members of the public.

Soyombo denied authorising agents, consultants, third parties or its staff to collect money or process registration, certification, licensing, employment or promotion outside its approved procedures and official channels.

The council said, ‘It has not authorized any individual, agent, consultant, third party or any member of staff to collect money, process registration, secure employment, facilitate certification, licensing, promotions, or render any TRCN service outside the Council’s officially approved procedures and channels.’

It also warned that its official website, www.trcn.gov.ng, is the only approved online platform for information on its programmes and services.

‘The Council DOES NOT own or operate any other portal other than our official website: www.trcn.gov.ng,’ the statement said.

The council further cautioned members of the public against making payments into personal bank accounts, stressing that it does not collect payments through such channels.

It also warned that certificates and licences obtained through unofficial processes would not be recognised.

‘Certificates and Licenses issued outside our official process are FAKE, INVALID and NOT RECOGNISED by the Council,’ it stated.

The warning comes amid the proliferation of online platforms and messages purporting to offer access to TRCN registration, Professional Qualifying Examination (PQE), certification and other services.

The council urged members of the public to disregard unverified information circulated through social media, WhatsApp, emails and websites claiming to represent it.

It advised anyone who had already made payments to suspected fraudsters, or received suspicious calls, messages or payment requests in its name, to report the matter to security agencies and notify the council through its official communication channels.

TRCN said it had also directed its legal advisers and relevant law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute persons found impersonating the council or defrauding members of the public.

‘Such fraudulent acts constitute criminal offences and will be dealt with in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,’ it said.

The council urged teachers and other stakeholders to verify information before making payments or taking action on purported TRCN services.

The Chairman and Chief Executive of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig- Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), has charged investigators and prosecutors of the Agency to intensify efforts at tracing, seizing and recovering the proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotics trafficking.

Marwa, who gave the charge on Wednesday while declaring open an Advanced Capacity Building Programme on Financial Investigations, Asset Tracing, Forfeiture, Recovery and Management of the Proceeds and Instrumentalities of Narcotics Trafficking and Related Organised Crime, organised by the Agency in Abuja, noted that the war against drug cartels can no longer be won by arrests and seizures alone.

In his welcome address, the NDLEA boss noted that the depth of participation at the programme reflects a shared commitment to the understanding that drug trafficking is fundamentally an economic enterprise, sustained by financiers, facilitators, money launderers and professional enablers operating behind every drug shipment.

‘If we arrest the courier but leave the financier untouched, seize the drugs but allow the proceeds to remain with the criminal enterprise, or secure a conviction without recovering the illicit wealth, we have addressed only part of the problem’, he said.

He observed that criminal organisations are increasingly exploiting technology, cryptocurrencies, complex corporate structures and legitimate businesses to conceal the ownership and origin of illicit wealth, stressing that the Agency’s response must evolve with equal sophistication.

According to Marwa, NDLEA investigators and prosecutors must be equipped to analyse complex transactions, trace assets across borders, establish beneficial ownership, exploit digital evidence and build financial cases capable of supporting forfeiture and recovery.

He disclosed that the NDLEA’s next imperative, having made significant progress in seizing narcotics and prosecuting traffickers, is to dismantle the economic foundations of the drug trade and make narcotics trafficking a high-risk, low-profit enterprise.

‘The sophistication of organised crime demands a corresponding sophistication in our response. We must move from crime detection to crime disruption; from arresting offenders to dismantling criminal enterprises; and from confiscating drugs to depriving traffickers of the wealth that motivates and sustains their activities.

‘The drug trafficking ecosystem intersects with money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, human trafficking, illicit arms trafficking and other forms of organised crime. These intersections make sustained cooperation, within the NDLEA and among our partner institutions, not merely desirable, but indispensable’, he stated.

He called for stronger synergy among the Agency’s Directorates: intelligence, investigation, prosecution, forensics, asset and financial investigation, describing them as interconnected links in one enforcement chain that must work as one Agency rather than in isolation.

The NDLEA boss extended the same call to inter-agency collaboration, noting that no single institution possesses all the information, expertise or capacity required to confront sophisticated criminal networks.

In his goodwill message delivered by Justice Inyang Ekwo at the programme, the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, commended Marwa for the great strides the Agency has been recording under his leadership, adding that collaboration between the Federal High Court and the NDLEA, as well as other law enforcement agencies, will put Nigeria in good standing in the international community.

According to him, ‘His Lordship, the Chief Judge, expresses his delight to be part of this programme, which is designed to strengthen institutional capacity in financial investigation, asset tracing for future recovery, and management of proceeds and instrumentalities of narcotic trafficking and related crimes, including cryptocurrency-enabled money laundering.

‘He thinks that this topic shows how extensive and multifaceted drug crimes are and can be, and their ever-expanding frontiers, which ought to be tackled by effective and sophisticated law enforcement.

‘His Lordship appreciates and commends you, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, for your commendable strides since the assumption of office as the Chairman and Chief Executive. His Lordship believes that collaboration between the Federal High Court and law enforcement agencies, especially the NDLEA, will put this nation on a proper spotlight when it comes to law enforcement in the international circle.’