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JUST IN: NDLEA Arrests General Overseer With Drugs At Lagos Airport

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested the General Overseer of Christ Living Hope Church, Reverend Ugochukwu Emmanuel Ekwem, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport for drug peddling

The cleric was arrested while on his way to a three-week crusade in Nairobi, Kenya, with 54 sticks of drugs wrapped around his body.

The popular preacher who has his church headquartered in Isuaniocha, Mgbakwu road, Awka, Awka North LGA, Anambra State, and two other branches in Lagos and Abuja, was arrested on Monday 7th March, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi via Addis Ababa.

In a statement by its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, titled, ‘Church General Overseer arrested with drugs at Lagos airport’, the NDLEA said when the drugs were tested, the 54 sticks proved positive to cannabis.


According to the statement, the clergyman confessed during a preliminary interview that he packed that quantity of illicit substance on his body to use during his three weeks crusade in Kenya.

The statement read, “On the same day, another passenger, Nnakeanyi Chukwuka King who arrived at the airport on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa was intercepted during the inward clearance of passengers at the E-Arrival Hall of the MMIA. During a search of his luggage, forty (40) parcels of Cocaine concealed inside bottles of body cream with a gross weight of 9.70kg were recovered from the suspect.

“Three days later, Wednesday 9th March, another passenger on Ethiopian Airlines flight to Italy, Mr. Edo Blessing was intercepted at the Departure Hall of the airport with 2, 090 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and Flunitrazepam. The suspect who hails from Edo state but lives in Italy claimed ownership of the recovered psychotropic substances.

“Also on the same day, operatives arrested a freight agent, Rafiu Abbas at the NAHCO Export Shed of the airport when he presented a cargo containing 19.15kg cannabis going to London. The illicit substance was concealed inside plastic containers labeled as “African Dishes” and packed in a bag.

“In a related development, a 63-year-old Vincent Obama was on Friday 11th March arrested with 350grams of cocaine and 150grams of heroin by NDLEA operatives at a park in the Apapa seaport corridor in Lagos. The drugs were hidden in industrial torch packets heading to Kano, Kano state.

“Meanwhile, a drug dealer in Kaduna state, James Okenwa has been arrested in a follow-up operation at Central Market, Kaduna. He admitted the ownership of 1,807 bottles of cough syrup with codeine that were earlier recovered from two suspects at the tollgate. At the point of his arrest, another 152 bottles of the drug were recovered from his vehicle. He has accepted ownership of all the 1,959 bottles of codeine syrup.

“In Yobe state, two fake security agents: Akalonu Justin and Azimbi Festus who were coming from Onitsha and heading to Maiduguri, Borno state have been arrested with 25 blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 12 .5kg and 1, 598 bottles of Codeine Syrup weighing 159.8 Liters, while 85kg of cannabis was also recovered from the warehouse of a notorious drug dealer in Patwari area of Damaturu, the state capital on Thursday 10th March.

“In Anambra state, a total of 38,605 tablets of assorted opioids were recovered from a 29-year-old drug dealer, Awoke Friday at Nkwelle junction, Onitsha on Friday 11th March with the support of men of the Nigeria Police.

“While commending the officers and men of the MMIA, Apapa Port, Kaduna, Yobe and Anambra Commands of the Agency for the impressive seizures and arrests in the past week, Chairman/ Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) charged them and their colleagues across the country to stay focussed and intensify efforts to rid Nigeria of illicit drugs and substances.”

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FCT People Will Show Wike During LG Council Poll — Senator Kingibe [VIDEO]

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The Senator stated that the FCT minister does not understand the people’s needs and is failing to address them.

The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe, says residents of the capital will take action against FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, in the upcoming local government election in Abuja.

Kingibe, while appearing on Channels Television’s Political Paradigm, said Wike is out of touch with the people’s needs and has not been meeting them.

“The truth is that the people of the FCT resent Wike,” she said. “They are not happy with his attitude and his failure to meet their needs.”

She noted that the forthcoming local council elections would serve as a test of the minister’s performance.

“The people will show him who owns the FCT during the council polls,” she added.

Watch VIDEO HERE

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Atiku May Not Have Been Destined To Become Nigeria’s President — Daniel Bwala

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Daniel Bwala, a presidential aide, has said that his former principal and ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar may not have been destined to become Nigeria’s President.

“There is my former principal who believes that he is going to win,” Bwala said during Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Monday, dismissing the chances of Atiku and other opposition coalition leaders like Peter Obi and Rotimi Amaechi to defeat President Bola Tinubu in 2027.

“In all honesty, I have expressed my opinion that it may never have been destined by God for him to be a president in Nigeria because he has done everything he needs to do to be president and he did not win the presidency.

“2023 was the biggest opportunity that my former principal Atiku Abubakar had. He will never have that kind of privilege again,” he said.

Interestingly, Bwala served as Atiku’s campaign spokesperson during the 2023 election but later switched his allegiance to Tinubu.

Opposition has no alternative policies

Opposition leaders recently agreed to use the African Democratic Party as the platform for their coalition to remove Tinubu, whom they accused of leading the country backward.

However, Bwala dismissed their efforts, saying they have failed to provide alternative policies that could convince Nigerians to support them.

“What I still find intriguing is that this coalition of internally displaced politicians have not been able to summon the courage and come up with alternative facts, alternative policies or alternative programmes.

“Throughout the interview you had with Peter Obi, what I find is that he has not been able to counter or to disagree in the real sense of the word with the policies that we are implementing,” he said.

Coalition will scatter in six months

Bwala further downplayed the threat posed by the opposition coalition to Tinubu’s presidency, predicting that the coalition would not last beyond six months.

He stated that internal disputes over who would emerge as the presidential candidate under the ADC would break up the coalition, ultimately benefiting Tinubu in 2027.

“All this fantasy of coalition, we all know that once there is a phenomenon like that we are going to have a good two to three weeks of all these romanticizing of ‘we have ideas, we can do this’.

“But one of them, his name is Datti (Baba-Ahmed) already sensed the danger that is ahead for them and he said that the problem of theis coalition will be who will be the president because right now, I’m quoting him, ‘everybody wants to be the president’.

“After one month when they sit down, I am telling you on my own honour, in the next six months, that coalition thing will not even be a conversation, they will scatter,” Bwala added.

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Inside Lagos: Man Burnt With Hot Oil For Stealing In Mushin Market

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An unidentified man is in critical condition after a mob attacked him with hot oil for allegedly stealing groundnut oil at a market near the Alakara Police Station in the Mushin area of Lagos State.

Report has it that the incident occurred on Friday.

According to The Punch, a resident under anonymity on Monday said that the man pretended to be a customer, took the item from a stall, and was caught in the act.

Angered by the theft, the mob reportedly heated some of the groundnut oil he was accused of stealing and poured it on his back.

“He pretended to be a customer, and while the owner of the shop was busy attending to others, he lifted a bottle of groundnut oil and left. He did not know he was sighted by another trader. That was how he was approached and caught with the product. He was stripped naked and beaten by the mob, who then decided to heat the groundnut oil and poured it on his back while he was lying down,” the source said.

The suspect was said to have been left unconscious with severe burns and abandoned near the market.

A resident, Omoluabi Ifeoluwa, who raised the alarm about the suspect’s condition, revealed that the man was found on Sunday lying in a gutter close to the police without receiving medical assistance.

Ifeoluwa, who shared the information on the community WhatsApp group, stated that he received a distress call and contacted health officials and the police.

He wrote, “On receiving a distress call, I was informed that a seemingly lifeless body had been lying in a gutter near Alakara Police Station along Agege Motor Road for over two days without attention. Upon verification of this disturbing report, I promptly contacted the following officials for immediate action: Medical Officer of Health, Mushin Local Government. Supervisor for Health, Mushin Local Government and Divisional Police Officer, Alakara Police Station

Following this, I arranged for an ambulance through the Lagos State Emergency Services, and we proceeded swiftly to the location. On arrival, we found a man in an extremely critical and unhygienic condition.” According to eyewitnesses, he was allegedly caught attempting to steal groundnut oil. As punishment, the oil was reportedly poured on him, and he was left in that state.”

Ifeoluwa explained that after cleaning him up, the general hospital where he was taken refused to admit him.

“We were advised to transfer him to Gbagada General Hospital for further care. Unfortunately, due to a lack of further support, medical acceptance, or guidance, I was unable to continue with the process. With no clear path forward and without institutional assistance, I was left with no choice but to let him go,” he added.

When reached for comments, the Divisional Police Officer, Enyinna Nwankudu, stated that the officers had made efforts to retrieve the man from where he was found.

He said, “When we saw him, we contacted the local government officials and health workers who came to remove him from inside the drainage. He was initially thought to be dead, but he was not. He has been taken care of.”

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