Headlines
Drug Trafficker Nabbed with N564m Heroin at Abuja airport
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted a suspected drug trafficker, Goodluck Igbineweka Odeh, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, with two kilograms of heroin.
The substance, according to the agency, has a street value of N564m and was concealed in the lining of the false bottom of the suspect’s suitcase.
A statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, said the 40-year-old suspect from the Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of Edo State, was arrested at the departure lounge of the airport during an outward clearance of Ethiopian Airline’s aircraft 911 from Abuja to Italy through Addis Ababa.
Babafemi said, “Under interrogation, Odeh claimed that he had been living in Italy since 2015 when he got into the country through Libya. He said he worked as a labourer in a farm in Italy with a pay of about €50 a day, adding that he also worked as a flyer distributor when the farming season is over and gets as much as €50 a day.
“Odeh claimed that he came to Nigeria over two weeks ago to see his family and also used same opportunity to buy foodstuffs to sell on his return to Italy.”
He added that after spending some days in Edo and Delta states, where he bought some foodstuffs, he travelled to Lagos to buy more foodstuffs and bush meat, which according to him was cheaper.
Curiously, he claimed that he did not know how the drug found its way into the bag as he bought the suitcase from a second-hand materials open market in Lagos not knowing that it contained the drug. When further asked of the market’s address, he added, “I don’t know the address.”
Odeh said he was accompanied to the market where he bought the suitcase by a man he claimed he first met the day he arrived Lagos from Benin, adding that he came into Abuja from Lagos for onward trip to Italy.
The Commander, Abuja Airport Command, NDLEA, Kabir Tsakuwa, said charges had already been filed against the suspect, while further investigation would continue to explore other leads on the case.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the commander, officers and men of the Abuja airport for their vigilance.
“Whenever criminal elements go to export or import illicit drugs through our borders, they will surely have the new NDLEA to contend with,” Marwa stated.
The Punch
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
