Metro

NDLEA Declares Ex-beauty Queen, Aderinoye Wanted For Drug Dealing

Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2024

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have declared an ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye wanted over her alleged deals in illicit substances.

According to reports, Aderinoye was declared wanted after she escaped from her Lekki, Lagos residence when NDLEA operatives raided her apartment at Oral Estate, Lekki, on Wednesday 24th, following credible intelligence that she deals in illicit substances.

The suspect was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of Queen Christmas Foundation.

Recovered from her home during the search witnessed by the estate officials include 606 grams of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame among others.

Spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi who made this known said Operatives also arrested a Brazil returnee, Udechukwu Ekene Theophilus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos for ingesting 60 big wraps of cocaine.

“The suspect who was arrested during inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the D-Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport on Sunday 21st January 2024, initially refused to undergo body scan, raising health concerns in a desperate bid to evade arrest.

“When he was however offered other options, he accepted to be placed on excretion observation and shortly after he was ushered into NDLEA observatory, he excreted the first set of cocaine pellets, after which he expelled a total of 60 wraps of the class A drug weighing 1.279 kilograms in five excretions.

“In his statement, Udechukwu claimed he ingested the consignment in Brazil and was to discharge everything at the airport in Addis Ababa but could only excrete 15 pellets which he handed over to another member of his syndicate before his connecting flight to Nigeria was called.

“In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Tuesday 23rd January recovered a total of twelve (12) cartons of tramadol 225mg containing five hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred (599,900) pills weighing 385.40kg from an overstayed cargo at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport after a joint examination with other agencies.

“The tramadol consignment had come into the country in two batches on KLM Royal Dutch Airline flights from Karachi, Pakistan between 27th July and 1st August 2023.

“They were however placed under watch by NDLEA operatives since then,” he said.

He continued, “Not less than 822 kilograms of cannabis sativa hidden in a fuel station located at Ashipa community along Badagry-Seme road were recovered by operatives of the Seme Special Area Command of NDLEA, while a suspect Sani Audu, 35, was arrested with 111.3kg of same substance at Maigatari town in Jigawa State on Tuesday 23rd January.

In Yobe state, two suspects: Mohammed Usman and Adamu Ma’azu were arrested on Saturday 27th January with 49 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 50kg at Damaturu motor park, Damaturu.

The duo of Paul Obor, 38, and Dennis Fuokorighe, 48, were arrested on Wednesday 24th Jan. at a Navy check point, Itobe, Ofu LGA, Kogi state with 318 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 190.8kg concealed in a gold colour Honda Accord Car marked RBC 449AE, and were handed over to the Kogi state command of the Agency on Friday 26th Jan. by men of the Nigeria Navy Ship, Lugard, Lokoja.

In Kano, a suspect, Shamwilu Idris, 29, was arrested at Gadar Tamburawa area on Thursday 25th January with 271kg cannabis following the seizure of an abandoned 28.1kg of same substance at Rijiyar Lemo area of the state on Wednesday 24th January.

Another suspect, Abubakar Haruna Salisu, 24, was nabbed at Kotun Wambai, Yan Awaki, area of Kano on Friday 26th January with 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup while a total of 1, 306 blocks of cannabis weighing 886kg seized by the Police at Kwanar Dangora, area of the state were transferred to the Agency on Wednesday 24th January.

A total of 87 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 73kg as well as 21, 346 pills of tramadol and 3,800 tablets of diazepam were recovered from a suspect, Musa Galadima on Friday 26th January when his DAF truck marked GME 971 XD was intercepted at Lafiyawo, along Gombe – Bauchi road by NDLEA operatives. In Plateau state,

Aminu Ubanta, 35, was nabbed on Saturday 27th January with 5.355kg cannabi at Layin Zana area of Jos.

Two members of an international drug trafficking syndicate: Sunday Michael Owoborode, 52, and Valentine Anene were arrested the next day Thursday 25th January at Edu Orita, Ogun state where Valentine was being prepared to travel with some drugs to Qatar same day on board a Qatar airline flight from Lagos.

At the time of their arrest, 1.8kg of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale and other illicit substances were found on them.

In another interdiction operation by operatives in Lagos, a 50-year-old Sunday Adediran, was arrested on Wednesday 24th January with 20kg cannabis sativa found in one of the rooms in his house at Mushin Olosha.

With the same vigour, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week.

Some of them include WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Government Day Primary and Secondary School, Jiddel Michika, Adamawa State; students of Soltab Comprehensive College, Abeokuta, Ogun state; pupils and teachers of Sangotedo Primary School, Ajah, Lagos State.

Others were pupils and teachers of ADS Basic Primary School 1&2, Ogbomoso, Oyo state; students and teachers of Farfanu Malami community secondary school, Magama Jibia, Katsina state; and WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Highness, Dr. Gibson Nwabueze Nwosu, Eze Uzu 11 of Awka, Anambra State, among others.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Seme, Kano, Gombe, Kogi, Plateau and Jigawa Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in the past week.

He equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures, thus creating a balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.

Metro

BREAKING: Benue IDPs block Highway, Demand Return To Ancestral Homes

Published

14 hours ago

July 30, 2025

Editor

Vehicular movement along the Yelwata axis of the Benue–Nasarawa highway was brought to a standstill on Wednesday as Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs, staged a protest, demanding immediate return to their ancestral homes.

The protesters, believed to be victims of persistent attacks by suspected herdsmen, blocked both lanes of the busy highway for several hours, chanting “We want to go back home”.

The protest caused disruption, leaving hundreds of motorists and passengers stranded.

Eyewitnesses said the displaced persons, many of whom have spent years in overcrowded IDP camps, are expressing deep frustration over the government’s delay in restoring security to their communities.

“We have suffered enough. We want to return to our homes and farms,” one of the protesters told reporters at the scene.

Security personnel were reportedly deployed to monitor the situation and prevent any escalation, though tensions remained high as of press time.

Efforts to reach the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, and other relevant authorities for comment were unsuccessful.

Metro

‘Nigerians Must Go,’ Ghanaians Protest Alleged Prostitution, Ritual Killings

Published

1 day ago

July 29, 2025

Editor

Some Ghanaians have protested against Nigerians for allegedly engaging in mass prostitution and ritual killings in their country.

In a viral video on Tuesday, the protesters in their large numbers, were seen wielding placards with various inscriptions such as “Armed robbery and violent attacks must stop; “Our health at stake due to mass prostitution; “Who protects the right and freedom of Ghanaians; “Nigerians are kidnapping and using people for rituals; “Our kids are getting missing because of Igbos,” among others.

They also displayed a picture of a man who was allegedly killed by a Nigerian in the Accra area of the country.

Speaking in the video, a lady in her mid-30s said Nigerians must go because of their anyhowness in their country.

“Nigerians must go because you can’t be in someone’s country and be doing anyhow. Nigerians must go,” she yelled.

Another protester said Nigerians have taken over their major markets and are perpetrating evil of sorts in their country.

“These Igbo, they are in every part of the country and have targeted our markets. Not just Igbo, Nigerians are in almost every village, and our laws have not allowed foreigners to engage in real dealings. They are perpetrating evil in our country. They even have a Igbo king in Ghana. They have hijacked our lands. It is just a matter of time; we will conquer them and take over our country,” he stressed.

Recall that a similar occurrence popularly christened “Ghana must go” happened in 1983 when the Nigerian government under President Shehu Shagari enacted a directive ordering about two million undocumented immigrants, many of whom were Ghanaians, to leave the country.

“If they don’t leave, they should be arrested, tried and sent back to their homes.

“Illegal immigrants, under normal circumstances, should not be given any notice whatsoever. If you break a law, then you have to pay for it,” the President had said.

This action gave birth to a checked bag called “Ghana must go” into which the Ghanaians packed their belongings, and in turn became a symbol of exclusion and intolerance.

As of the time of filing this report, the Ghanaian government has yet to comment on the situation and the plight of their countrymen on returning Nigerians to their country, irrespective of their status.

Metro

Gunmen Shoot, Abduct Anambra Bizman

Published

2 days ago

July 29, 2025

Editor

Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have abducted a businessman, Ifesinachi Onyekere, at the Okpuno community in the Awka area of Anambra State.

A security expert, Zagazola Makama, made this known via his X handle on Monday.

According to him, the attackers invaded the victim’s residence around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, shot him in the leg, and whisked him away to an unknown destination.

He further stated that Onyekere is the Managing Director of Fish Magnet and the son of the Women Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

He wrote, “Armed men abducted a prominent Anambra businessman, Ifesinachi Onyekere, on Saturday night in Okpuno community near Awka, shooting him in the leg before taking him to an unknown location.

“Onyekere, who is the Managing Director of Fish Magnet and son of the Women Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, was reportedly attacked at about 10:30 p.m. at his residence in Ezinifite Village, a remote part of the town.

“Eyewitnesses said the gunmen, who arrived in an ash-coloured Lexus SUV, forced their way into the compound, shot the victim in the leg, and fled with him in his own navy blue Toyota Corolla. The vehicle’s registration number remains unknown.”

While quoting sources, he stated that the assailants escaped through bush paths in the direction of Nawfia, sparking fear among residents.

Local volunteers and security watch groups were also said to have been combing the area in search of the victim, while efforts are being made to trace his phone and contact the abductors.

When contacted, the spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, requested a text. The text message sent to him had yet to be replied to as of the time this report was filed.

The PUNCH reported in June that a 24-year-old suspect, Muanaenye Victor, was arrested for luring his friend to be kidnapped by his criminal gang.

The suspect was said to have planned the kidnapping and collected a ransom in dollars, the equivalent of N5.3m, with his gang members before the victim was released.

Ikenga, however, disclosed that police operatives attached to the Uli Divisional Headquarters arrested the suspect, who also helped the police by providing information to help apprehend his accomplices.