Business
How NDLEA intercepts Chinese grandma with 31.0Kg of drug consignment at Lagos airport
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—-A 63-year-old Chinese grandma Ting Hung Kiong has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) following her attempt to smuggle large consignment of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis into Nigeria.
The female Chinese national who naturalised in Malaysia was arrested on Sunday 17th May 2026 upon her arrival in Nigeria from Thailand via Dubai, UAE, aboard an Emirates Airline flight. She was intercepted by NDLEA operatives attached to the Terminal 2 Arrival Hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
Investigation revealed that the suspect travelled from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria via the UAE with two large travel boxes containing the synthetic cannabis consignment weighing 31.0 kilograms.
During an interview, the 63-year-old suspect who claims she works as a caregiver in Malaysia stated that her daughter sponsored her trip from Malaysia to Thailand and subsequently to Nigeria.
She further disclosed that she spent two weeks in Thailand, before she was handed the illicit consignment at the Thailand airport to deliver in Nigeria.
Meanwhile, another major shipment of illicit drug consignment has been recovered at the import shed of the Lagos airport. Following close monitoring of the consignment by NDLEA operatives since its arrival from India aboard an Emirates Cargo flight, the 29 large cartons containing One Million, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Thousand, Seven Hundred and Ten (1,825,710) tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, worth Two Billion, One Hundred and Ninety Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand Naira (N2,190,852,000) were eventually handed over to the NDLEA by the Customs Service on Friday 22nd May 2026.
In another successful interdiction operation, NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu on Wednesday 20th May intercepted a suspect Onyeka Valentine Emeka during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sierra Leone via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. When placed under observation, the suspect excreted a total of 185.36 grams of cocaine.
At the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, a 29-year-old building engineer, Babatunde Prosper Afekhide was on Wednesday 21st May arrested by NDLEA operatives while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Abuja via Addis Ababa to Milan Malpensa, Italy.
A search conducted on his luggage led to the recovery of 10,280 pills of Tramaking 225mg; Tramadol 200mg and Tapentadol 250mg. The opioids were concealed using foil paper and hidden inside a carton, in a suitcase, obviously to evade detection.
In yet another operation at a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA operatives intercepted 1,174 pills of MDMA (Ecstasy) concealed in bicycle luggage carrier heading to Netherlands; 66 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in soap container going to the United States and 18 tablets of tramadol 225mg concealed in body cream container heading to the United Kingdom.
In Edo state, NDLEA operatives acting on intelligence raided Igwe community in Owan East LGA where a total of 59 jumbo bags of skunk weighing 489kg and cannabis seeds weighing 9kg were recovered.
While a suspect Isah Sani, 30, was nabbed with 196,000 pills of exol-5 on Wednesday 20th May along Zaria/Kano road, Kano state, NDLEA officers at Seme border, Badagry area of Lagos recovered 59kg skunk from a warehouse in Mowo, Badagry on Tuesday 19th May.
Another operational success was recorded in Ekiti state where NDLEA operatives on Saturday 23rd May raided a warehouse located at N/56, Ikoyi community, Ikole-Ekiti and recovered 1,116 kilograms of skunk, while 54-year-old suspect Ogundana Adebayo Julius was arrested in connection with the seizure.
With the same zeal, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Command Day School, Mokola, Ibadan, Oyo state; Girls Secondary School, Amenyi, Anambra; Matazu Model Primary School, Matazu LGA, Katsina; C&S Primary School, Majidun, Ikorodu, Lagos; Alufo High School, Apugo, Enugu; Aramoko District Commercial Secondary School, Aramoko Ekiti; and Government Girls Secondary School, Kurna, Kano state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, NAIA, AIIA, Edo, Ekiti, Seme, and Kano Commands as well as those of DOGI for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) noted their drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitization activities while he charged them and their compatriots across the country to continue to raise the operational bar.
The post How NDLEA intercepts Chinese grandma with 31.0Kg of drug consignment at Lagos airport appeared first on Business Today NG.
Business
Supreme Court Upholds APP’s Registration, Ends Deregistration Battle Ahead of 2027 Elections
BY NKECHI NAECHE-ESEZOBOR—The Supreme Court has brought an end to the legal dispute over the status of the Action Peoples Party (APP), affirming that the party remains duly registered and eligible to take part in the 2027 general elections.
The apex court struck out Appeal No. SC/CV/248/2026 after the appellant, Mr Blessing Elujiuba, voluntarily withdrew the case, bringing the challenge to a close.
This decision leaves intact earlier judgments delivered by both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal, which had upheld the party’s legal recognition.
The ruling was delivered on May 12, 2026, by a five-member panel of the Supreme Court led by Justice John Inyang Okoro, who noted that the matter was withdrawn without objection from other parties.
The court subsequently dismissed the appeal following its withdrawal, formally ending the proceedings at the apex level of the judiciary.
The case involved the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Action Peoples Party (APP), and the party’s National Chairman, Uche Kingsley Nnadi.
The initial legal action had sought to force INEC to remove APP from its register on the allegation that it failed to meet constitutional requirements under Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution.
However, earlier rulings had found that APP met the necessary legal conditions for continued registration, citing evidence of electoral participation and victories at local government level.
The courts also upheld the interpretation that fulfilling any of the conditions outlined in Section 225A is sufficient for a political party to retain its registration status.
With all tiers of the judiciary aligned in its favour, APP’s legal standing remains intact, clearing the party to continue preparations for the 2027 elections without any outstanding court challenge.
The post Supreme Court Upholds APP’s Registration, Ends Deregistration Battle Ahead of 2027 Elections appeared first on Business Today NG.
The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said discussions on Nigeria’s nuclear power programme remain alive, amid continuous technical engagements with concerned authorities in the West African country.
Mr Grossi disclosed the progress made on the nuclear power arrangement with Nigeria while responding to a PREMIUM TIMES’ enquiry at an IAEA programme in Vienna, Austria.
The IAEA DG said the agency continues to work with Nigeria on its nuclear power plan and IAEA officials had held visits and technical meetings with relevant stakeholders to actualise the dream.
In May 2024, while on a visit to Nigeria for a seminar on ‘Promoting Cancer Awareness and Advocacy Programmes’, Mr Grossi expressed the agency’s readiness to support Nigeria’s efforts to develop a nuclear power programme during meetings with senior government officials, including the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume.
Speaking during the visit, he described Nigeria’s pursuit of nuclear energy as “a logical move for a country of your (Nigeria’s) size and importance.”
When this newspaper asked Mr Grossi about the progress of the discussions and technical meetings since the visit two years ago, the IAEA DG reassured that discussions are still ongoing.
“We have continued working with Nigeria, I have to tell you. It’s not that after that visit, things stopped. We have continued at technical levels, some visits, and technical meetings,” the IAEA DG said.
He noted, however, that no final decision has been taken on the programme, adding that Nigeria’s status as a big crude oil-producing nation makes its situation quite different from other economies.
“There hasn’t been a decision yet. There is like a pre-decision to explore the alternative. Of course, your country (Nigeria) is a big oil producer country, an exporter, etc. So the discussion in your country is different from that in other countries,” the DG said.
The IAEA boss insisted that the conversation around the programme is still alive, but Nigeria’s energy options are quite diversified.
“It’s a matter of diversification more than a matter of need, maybe. But the conversation space is pretty much alive, I must say,” Mr Grossi said.
Nigeria’s nuclear energy programme operates under the guidance and safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), aiming to add clean, stable nuclear electricity to the national grid. The programme is managed primarily by the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC) and is said to be advancing through the foundational infrastructure phases and planning stages.
READ ALSO: Survival logic of nuclear deterrence: The Iranian, Israeli, and American conundrum, By Jacob Edi
Earlier in September 2023, Nigeria signed its Country Programme Framework (CPF) for the period of 2024–2029 on the margins of the General Conference. A CPF is the frame of reference for the medium-term planning of technical cooperation between a Member State and the IAEA and identifies priority areas where the transfer of nuclear technology and technical cooperation resources will be directed to support national development goals.
Nigeria has been an IAEA Member State since 1957 and, according to the agency, its 4th CPF covering the period 2024 – 2029 identifies five priority areas, such as nuclear and radiation safety and security; food and agriculture; health and nutrition; water and environment; as well as energy planning and development.
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