Connect with us

Metro News

Wanted drug dealer arrested in Church, another excretes 68 wraps of heroin at Lagos airport

Published

on

DRUG DEALER

DRUG

A notorious drug dealer wanted for attempting to export 69.65kilograms of cocaine, heroin and cannabis to the United Kingdom through the NAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, has been arrested at a church in the Ojodu area of Lagos state.

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) traced the wanted drug dealer, Stephen Afam Ikeanyionwu, to a popular Pentecostal church at Mike Ajari street, Ojodu Berger on Sunday 15th August, 2021, where they arrested him soon after he stepped out of the church service.

His arrest followed the interception of a consignment of illicit drugs weighing 69.65kg going to the UK through the Lagos airport on Thursday, 12th August, 2021. The illegal baggage had been sent to the airport for export through a freight forwarding company, which in turn gave a driver to deliver at the NAHCO export shed. Following the arrest of the driver, follow up operations and investigations later revealed the true identity of the actual owner of the consignment, Stephen Afam Ikeanyionwu, who was arrested three days later in a sting operation.

In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport arrested an Italy-bound passenger, Abibu Miminu, during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airways flight to Italy via Addis-Ababa for ingesting illicit drugs. While under observation at the Agency’s facility between Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th August, 2021, the trafficker excreted 68 wraps of heroin in three excretions, all weighing 800grams.

READ  Police arrest Yahoo boys who dumped their apprentice's corpse by roadside in Ogun

In the same vein, narcotic officers of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation intercepted, at two courier companies in Lagos, 840 grams of Methamphetamine going to Australia and concealed in bolts; 340 grams of Meth hidden in locally made footwears and also going to Australia; 1kilogram of cocaine coming from Ghana with UK as destination and concealed in four local guitars. Also seized from one of the courier firms is another 480grams of Meth concealed in footwears and going to Australia.

Meanwhile, a South Africa returnee, Obi Chigozie Samuel, was also last Sunday arrested at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines from Addis-Abbaba, for importing 58grams of skunk into Nigeria. During preliminary interview, he admitted ownership and claimed to be a cannabis smoker.

Operatives of the agency also recorded strings of operations in Edo, Ondo, Kaduna, Kano and Kogi states, at least 2,504.8 kilograms of diverse illicit drugs were seized from multiple suspects in the past week. In Kogi, 60-year-old Mrs Comfort Uzor was arrested with 62.1kg cannabis on Tuesday, 17th August, 2021 in Lokoja, where one Dayyabu Usman was also caught with 8kg of same substance. While Uzor sourced hers from Bolorunduro in Ondo state and was heading to Abuja, Usman got his from Lagos and was taking it to Kano for sale.

READ  Politicians are sponsors of banditry- Uzodinma

In Kaduna state, operatives of the Birnin Gwari Area Command of the Agency raided the home of one Mr Joseph Sunday at Ungwa Pama, Kaduna where they recovered 48.3kg of cannabis from his room following credible intelligence.

In Edo state, NDLEA officers on Tuesday 17th August stormed the Ugbuwe forest in Ovia North East LGA, where they seized146 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 2,044 kilograms, while in Kano state, one Ikechukwu Aleke was arrested with 30,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg and 99 bottles of Codeine syrup, in addition to the arrest of one Muktar Muhammad, with 370 bottles of Codeine cough syrup, weighing 60.4kg, as well as 900 tablets of Rohypnol. Also arrested in Kano was Sufiyanu Abubakar, 24, with 400 plastic bottles of Codeine cough syrup weighing 52kg as well as one Mutta Hassan Wada, who specializes in using courier firms to send drugs to a recipient in China, using cooking spices bottles for concealment.

READ  NDLEA arrests 90-year-old drug peddler, as Italy-bound Osamede excretes 41 wraps of heroin at Lagos airport

In Ondo state, over 77.5kilograms of cannabis and monkey tail were intercepted on Saturday 21st August at Odigbo town in Odigbo LGA, where operatives arrested one Basiru Ijiniga. Also arrested on Saturday was Ibrahim Umaru in Sabo area of Akure South LGA. Recovered from him include different quantities of psychotropic substances like Diazepam, Tramadol, Swinol and Rophynol.

Reacting to the strings of arrests and seizures in the past week across some states and the MMIA, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the various commands for their unrelenting commitment to the presidential mandate to clear Nigerian forests and communities of illicit drugs in whatever form.

“We have all laid our hands on the plough, there’s no looking back, no retreat or surrender and as such I urge all our officers and men to intensify the ongoing offensive action until the last gram of illicit drug is taken away from merchants of death”, Gen. Marwa stated on Sunday.

 

Metro News

Nigerian who relocated to UK in 2022 beats wife to death

Published

on

By

 

A United Kingdom-based Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, has beaten his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, Daily Mail reports.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and always clashed over alleged affairs and arguments about bills.

According to the news platform, 48-year-old Abodunde had been repeatedly investigated by Suffolk Police about domestic violence and was due to go on trial for murder but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after a jury had been sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of bangs’ inside the house, which Abodunde had gone into, despite bail conditions imposed the day before that banned him from the property following another violent episode.

 

When they finally entered 25 minutes later, they found the wife, 41-year-old Taiwo, with her ‘skull smashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.

 

Suffolk Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed three officers were under investigation.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

READ  NDLEA intercepts Ephedrine, other consignments concealed in semovita packs at Lagos airport

 

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

 

Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.

He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his wife.

But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone.

 

Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises inside.

 

But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously dead’ near the front door.

A post-mortem examination later showed she had been throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were so violent that the skateboard was damaged.

READ  NDLEA arrests 90-year-old drug peddler, as Italy-bound Osamede excretes 41 wraps of heroin at Lagos airport

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

 

After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”.

 

He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife, I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

 

But the court heard while he did have an injury to his hand, there wasn’t a knife near his wife’s body.

 

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the level of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to support this claim.

READ  'We neither arrested nor ever detained Mohbad', says NDLEA

 

Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.

 

‘We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

 

‘Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’

 

Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which provides dementia care and residential and respite care.

 

A spokesman for the facility, which is owned by TLC Care, said: ‘We are all deeply shaken and upset by the tragic death of Taiwo, who was a much-loved member of our home community.

 

‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with her family. Taiwo always cared for those we support with compassion and kindness, and she will be greatly missed by all of us and our residents.’

 

Abodunde was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9.

Continue Reading

Metro News

Alleged procurement fraud: Court adjourns Emefiele‘s trial to June 24

Published

on

By

 

A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Maitama has adjourned the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to June 24. 

 

When the case was called on Thursday, neither the prosecution counsel nor the defendant were in court. However, Emefiele was represented by one of his counsels.

 

I.D Ahmed, who represented the defendant, told the court that the prosecution served him a letter praying for an adjournment.

 

He also apologised to the court for the absence of his client.

 

Hamza Muazu, presiding judge, said: “Because you have a letter of adjournment from the prosecution does not mean the defendant should not be in court.”

 

Muazu then adjourned until June 24 and June 25 for continuation of trial.

 

The federal government, on January 18, amended the criminal charges filed against the former CBN governor.

 

The charges, formerly six counts, were increased to 20 counts.

 

READ  Akeredolu signs anti-open grazing bill into law

The amended charges border on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.

 

At the previous hearing, the court agreed to vary Emefiele’s bail condition which previously restricted him to the FCT.

 

The court granted the application permitting the former CBN governor to travel within Nigeria but restrained him from leaving the country during the pendency of the case.

In some of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS,” dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

 

The EFCC said Emefiele made the claim despite knowing it to be false and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

 

According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the run, to obtain $6.2m from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it “vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.

 

READ  Police arrest Yahoo boys who dumped their apprentice's corpse by roadside in Ogun

Meanwhile, the EFCC had also declared Magaret, Emefiele’s wife, wanted for money laundering.

 

Continue Reading

Metro News

Mother, son, one other electrocuted in Ogun market

Published

on

By

 

No fewer than three people, including a mother and child, were reportedly electrocuted at Mowe Market in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The incident reportedly happened on Monday following the restoration of power after the Sunday downpour.

 

The Chairman of the Local Government, Ambassador Adesina Ogunsola, during his visit to the market on Wednesday gave a seven-day notice to all the traders with shops and stalls under the high-tension powerline to vacate to forestall a repeat of the tragic incident.

 

An eyewitness said that the electric shock was from the step-down transformer suspended on an electrical pole next to the shop where the incident happened, just as the shop owners arrived for their daily sales in the market.

 

The woman and her son were said to have been burnt beyond recognition.

 

The Director of Information at the Obafemi Owode Local Government, Segun Soneye, confirmed the incident on Thursday.

READ  Drug war: INTERPOL, NDLEA partner on global criminal data records

Soneye, in a statement, blamed the incident on the erection of shops made of iron under the powerline by the traders.

 

He said, “The chairman of the council had visited the affected shop owners and commiserated with them over the incident.

“The LG boss has already given shop owners a seven-day ultimatum to evacuate their make-shift shops built under the high tension powerline to forestall the recurrence of the incident.”

Speaking during his visit to the market, Ogunsola who commiserated with the families of the victims, also blamed the incident on the nonchalant attitude of the.

 

The LG boss wondered why people would disregard safety rules and have their shops close to electrical poles that carry step-down transformers.

 

Ogunsola, while giving the vacation order to the traders with shops and stalls under the powerline, said, “Let me also say that everyone that has extended its shop beyond where it should be, particularly those under high-tension cables should start removing it from today.”

READ  Politicians are sponsors of banditry- Uzodinma

The police spokesman, Omolola Odutola, also confirmed the incident but said only the mother, Ujuwa Okechukwu, died from the incident.

Continue Reading

Trending News