NDLEA Discovers £3.8m Worth Of Cocaine Inside Shoes

Officers of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja have discovered parcels of whitish substance that tested positive for cocaine weighing 9.15kg inside the soles of shoes.

The discovery was made in a shipment of shoes during the inward screening of passengers on a Turkish Airline flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The cocaine was industrially concealed in the soles of new foot wears.
It was the last arrest of 2016 at the Abuja airport, with an estimated value of £3.8 million in Europe.

The Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Colonel Muhammad Mustapha Abdallah (retd), said the huge profit derived from drug trafficking has made it a top priority for drug cartels to be financially incapacitated.

Abdallah said: “We must continue to take deliberate steps to intercept drugs and ultimately prevent the criminal enrichment of drug cartels.
“Illicit drug proceeds negatively affect economic development, could be used to corrupt government officials and terrorism funding thereby subjecting mankind to widespread destruction.”

The NDLEA commander at the Abuja airport, Hamisu Lawan, said the arrest was made during the inward screening of passengers and luggage on a Turkish Airline flight from Brazil.

Lawan said: “There was an arrest at the weekend of a 34-year-old suspect, Okolo Emenike Kingsley, who hails from Ezeagu, Enugu State.
“The motorcycle parts dealer said that he was offered the sum of N1 million to smuggle the drugs to Nigeria.
“Investigation is ongoing and the suspect is cooperating with our team of undercover officers.”

In the words of the suspect: “I am a motorcycle parts dealer, married with a child.
“My business was failing due to recession, so I travelled to Brazil in search of employment.
“Things became worse for me in Brazil because I had no money to sustain myself while my work permit was being processed.
“I was equally confronted with the fear of deportation.
“This made me to be desperate in my search for quick wealth.
“In the process, I met my childhood friend who offered me N1 million to traffic cocaine to Nigeria.
“He also paid for my ticket and gave me three bag of shoes containing the cocaine.
“On arrival at the Abuja airport, the cocaine was detected and I was arrested.
“I had wanted to invest the N1 million in business in Nigeria.”

Abdallah commended the arresting officers, describing the seizure as one of the benefits of training.

In his words: “The seizure is a validation of enhanced capacity of officers due to series of training programmes carried out by the Agency.
“The training covering investigation, raid operations as well as prosecution was conducted with the assistance of the United States government, European Union and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
“This is just a tip of the iceberg because as the benefits of these training begin to manifest, more drugs shall be detected and cartels dislodged in the days ahead.”

The NDLEA boss appealed to stakeholders to intensify the anti-narcotic campaign, adding: “We need all hands on deck as we begin the new year.”

The suspect will soon be charged to court.

SUMMARY OF ROAD CONSTRUCTIONS IN AKWA IBOM (roads in Oro excluded)

By Marshal Abia

The Honourable Commissioner for Works, Mr Ephraim Inyangeyen has assured Akwa Ibom people that no fewer than nine major roads would be commissioned as part of activities to mark Gov. Udom Emmanuel’s two years in office, come May 29th, 2017.

He stated this while inspecting some of the underlisted projects;
1. Dualization of Uyo – Etinan road by Julius Berger
2. Construction of 6.41KM  Nto Edino – Ekwere Azu road with two 45m span bridges in Obot Akara by Seyang Ltd.
3. Construction of 14.1KM Ini – Arochukwu road by Peculiar Construction
4. Construction of 39.4KM  Eket – Ibeno road by CCEC
5. Dualization of 29KM Etinan – Ndon Eyo road by Wizchino Engineering Ltd.
6. Construction of 12.742KM Awa Iman – Asong – Ikot Edim – Ikot Emem road with two bridges in Onna and Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas.
7. Construction of 10.8KM Awa – Nkana road and 2.3KM ancillary roads in Awa, Onna by VKS Construction Company.
8. Construction of 13. 5KM Ikot Ebere – Ikot Edor – Ikot Iko Ibon – Okom road and Akpabom – Ikwe road in Mkpat Enin by BJCC.
9. Nung Ukim road in Ikono by Hensek

It appears Onna and Mkpat Enin Local Government Areas are mostly favoured in this ongoing roads construction/dualization. Could this be the popular phrase, "charity begins at home" in visible display?

Surprisingly, most of these roads have no economic importance to the Akwa Ibom State government and it's people. No apology!

To show the conspicuous, splashy, bodacious, kenspeckle hate blatantly exhibited by His Excellency Deacon Udom Gabriel Emmanuel towards Oro nation, not a single 2-feet lane is approved for construction, let alone dualization anywhere in all the Local Government Areas that constitute Oro nation.

I pause to ask, did Oro not support the emergence of this government tooth and nail? What are the indices for the non-inclusion of Oro nation in the Akwa Ibom projects? Is the total number of votes in Onna greater than five massively populated Local Government Areas of Oro nation all combined? Is there no road this government has considered in Oron, Mbo, Urue Offong Oruko, Okobo and Udung Uko LGAs worthy of being constructed or dualized?

Whatever is the yardstick of this government in awarding contracts, excluding the oil rich Oro nation is very demoralizing and unpardonable.

In my opinion, am afraid Udom is wrong!

A'IBOM 2017 BUDGET: Gov. Udom Considers 5 Point Agenda

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr Udom Emmanuel has presented the year 2017 Budget Estimates tagged "Budget of Consolidation "to the State House of Assembly for ratification and approval.

Presenting the estimates, Governor Emmanuel said "the 2017 fiscal estimate takes into consideration the 5 Point agenda of his administration namely; job creation, poverty alleviation, wealth creation, economic and political inclusion and infrastructural consolidation and expansion to further transform the state to an industrialized entity".

In the estimates, a total budgetary out lay of 365.251 billion have been proposed. This is against the 423.000 billion budgeted for 2016 and is made up of recurrent expenditure 88.425 billion, capital expenditure 193.956 billion, consolidated revenue fund charges 82.872 billion while the projected recurrent revenue for year 2017 is estimated at 175.000 billion as against 284.666 billion earmarked for 2016.

Governor Emmanuel gave a breakdown of the estimate as follows; Internally generated Revenue (IGR) N27.684 billion, Statutory Allocation N15.000 billion, Derivation Fund N120.000 billion, Retained Revenue from Parastatals N2.316 billion, Value Added Tax (VAT) N10.000 billion.

The recurrent proposed expenditure stands at Personnel Costs N50.489 billion, Overhead Costs N37.936 billion, Consolidated Revenue Fund Charges N82.870 billion. Including pensions, gratuities and public debts.

The Capital receipts expenditure proposed for year 2017 is estimated at 193.956 billion as against 243 billion for 2016 while the sectoral allocation of the total estimated Capital Expenditure outlay of N193.956 billion for the year 2017 stands at 42.204 21.8 for Administration, Economy 128.021 66.0 , Law and Justice 2.978 1.5 , Regional 0.800 0.4 and Social 19.953.

Governor Emmanuel stated that the vision is anchored on the fact that Akwa Ibom State can and must be a better place for all Akwa Ibom people born and unborn. "This article of faith inspired our commitment to the Akwa Ibom project and desire to leave it better than we met it by providing an effective and efficient administration anchored on people-oriented goals. "

He said his administration preaches consolidation and continuity and therefore intends to make the welfare of the Akwa Ibom person the centerpiece of all developmental efforts and actions as a government.

"paramount in the heart of this administration is industrialization of the state. This particular ambition accounts to general policy direction within the period of the administration and we have committed ourselves to completing all viable abandoned projects and reviving ailing viable industries. "

The Governor emphasised that his administration is committed to leaving no uncompleted project "our objectives and effort may sound radical, that is so because we approach issues outside of the box of conventional wisdom. When the passion is right nothing shall be impossible.  Industrialization will create employment opportunities for our teeming youths and lift people from dependency to self-sustenance." Governor Emmanuel stated.

Speaker of the State House of Assembly Hon Onofiok Luke assured the Governor that the budget would be critically looked into with a view to ironing out gray areas before passage in the best interest of the state.

A minute of silence was observed in honour of the casualties of the Reigners Bible Church  tragedy.

AKSG Will Deliver All Road Projects On Schedule"_Ephraim Inyangeyen

The State Commissioner for works, Mr. Ephraim Inyangeyen has emphasised that all ongoing road projects by the Akwa Ibom State government will be delivered on schedule, economic recession notwithstanding.

Mr. Ephraim stated this while on projects inspection around the state on Monday, 19th and Tuesday 20th January, 2016. Some of the sites inspected were Uyo-Etinan road dualisation by Julius Berger, fourteen point one kilometer Odoro-Ikpe, Ikpe Ikot Nkon, Obotme- Arochukwu road by Messrs Peculiar ultimate Concerns limited and seventeen point four kilometer Odoro-Ikpe- Mbiabet Ikpe, Mbiabet Ikot Udo Rice Mill road with thirty metres span bridge under Alternative project funding Approach by Assdene.
Other sites were four point six kilometer school of Arts and Science Nung Ukim Road in Ikono Local Government Area by Hensek Integrated Science Limited and six point forty one kilometer Nto Edino Ekwere Azu road with forty five metre span of Bridges in Obot Akara and Etim Ekpo Bridge Head.

The Commissioner also inspected twenty three point twenty  five kilometer Ikot Ekaide- Ikot Nkon- Ikot Ibritam road in Oruk Anam under Alternative project funding Approach by Ashdene Limited and Ikot Ibritam – Ekeffe Ikot Akpan Afaha road with Bridge in Oruk Anam by Almajdal. 

The works boss however expressed satisfaction on the level of work done along Abak Nsekhe- Ikot Akpa Nkuk, Ikot Etim Ikot Ikaru phase three, section ‘A’, Ikot Ikara Ikot Ibritam road project by Hammakopp Construction Company, as well as Ikot Usop- Ikot Edeghe- Ikot Ekpuk road with thirty metres span bridge in Mkpat Enin by Benest Technical Services Limited.

Addressing journalists after the inspection, the Works Commissioner said Governor Udom Emmanuel was poised to link up more communities to boost industrialization in the state.

He described the governor as a man of action and commended the dedication demonstrates by the contractors on the various projects.

Nigeria records 273 Lassa fever cases, 149 deaths in 2015/16

Nigeria recorded the largest outbreak of Lassa fever in its history between 2015 and 2016, with 273 reported cases resulting to 149 deaths, the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, said on Friday. Chikwe Ihekweazu, Chief Executive Officer of NCDC, said this in a statement in Lagos.

Mr. Ihekweazu said the cases were reported from 23 states.

He said following this, the Minister of Health has inaugurated a Lassa Fever Eradication Committee, under the leadership of a professor, Oyewale Tomori.
It said that the committee was to look into the situation and proffer solutions to the NCDC towards preventing future outbreaks and reducing the deaths from the disease.

According to Mr. Ihekweazu, the committee came up with an approach that focused on strengthening the capacities and capabilities of states to prevent, detect and respond to Lassa while the NCDC coordinates the efforts.
”The prepositioning of commodities has now ensured that all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory in Nigeria have a full complement of emergency materials.
”The materials comprising Personal Protection Equipment, Ribavirin, Disinfection sprayers, hand sanitizers, hypochlorite (bleach), case definition posters, hard copies of IDSR technical guidelines and safety boxes,” it said.

The statement said NCDC had dispatched a team of epidemiologists to support Ogun State to respond to the recent outbreak where a case of Lassa fever was confirmed in a healthcare worker, who died later at the Federal Medical Centre, Abeokuta.
”Emergency Operations Centre has been setup and is now monitoring all contacts of the case, disinfecting contaminated areas and coordinating all response activities.
”This case highlights the risk Lassa fever still poses to the lives of Nigerians, particularly at this time of the year,” it said.

The Ogun State Government also said on Friday that 396 people who had contact with the deceased heath worker are being monitored.
“All the 396 contacts have not shown any abnormal symptoms or signs of Lassa fever, their temperature is under control and we have stationed our monitoring officer with each of the contacts to continue monitoring throughout a specific period in line with the World Health Organisation standard,” health commissioner Babatunde Ipaye said.

In his statement on Friday, Mr. Ihekweazu added that a nationwide risk communications plan had also been developed.
”Throughout the dry season, a new communication plan would address priority antecedents of Lassa Fever outbreak to ensure prevention is guaranteed,” he said.
He also mentioned that the communication targeted all key stakeholders, from presidency to households, and would emphasise on the ways to prevent Lassa fever infection.
”The Lassa virus is transmitted to humans via contact with food or household items contaminated with infected rodent urine or faeces.
”Lassa can also be transmitted from human to human through contact with the body fluids of an infected person.

”The key messages to Nigerians are, firstly protect your food items from access to rats using whatever means that you can afford- refrigerate, cover, store properly.
”Secondly if you do have a fever, insist on getting tested for malaria using a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) – remembering that not every fever is malaria.
”No healthcare worker can diagnose malaria without a test, and it is the right of every Nigerian to demand a test,” it said.

He urged healthcare workers to always apply standard infection prevention and control precautions when caring for patients, regardless of their presumed diagnosis as the healthcare setting could be particularly risky.

Why I retired from football – Okocha

Austin Jay-Jay Okocha has attributed his decision to retire early from active football to lack of enough playing time.

The ex-Nigeria international who dazzled the footballing world with his sizzling skills and breathtaking performances made the shock decision to leave the game in 2008.

According to the Olympic Gold medallist, reduced minutes on the pitch of play triggered his exile from the round leather game, at the age of 34.
Okocha

“I must confess that not getting a lot of playing time was the main reason why I retired from playing at a very young age,”

Okocha told media men at a press conference organised by Star Times.

“I believe that it is not worth it to train from Monday to Friday just to have 20 minutes on the pitch or sit on the bench on Saturday. I am very competitive.”

The midfielder who last represented Nigeria in 2006, appeared for the Super Eagles 75 times with 14 goals to his name.

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