The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has stepped up its offensive against drug trafficking in Kano and beyond, arresting multiple suspects, including a 60-year-old grandmother and a major distributor of opioids.

In a statement issued by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, the agency revealed that operatives, acting on intelligence, intercepted a Toyota Sienna packed with opioid consignments along the Kano-Ringim road in Gumel, Jigawa State, during a late-night operation around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 23.

Two individuals, Abba Ibrahim, 28, and Shuaibu Umar, 29, were apprehended at the scene.

Recovered from the vehicle were 200,000 tablets of tramadol (250mg) and 217,500 pregabalin capsules.

A rapid follow-up raid took NDLEA operatives to Mil Tara, Layin Technical in Kano, where they arrested 41-year-old Jamilu Muhammad at his home. Searches led to the discovery of an additional 1,584,000 tramadol pills hidden inside an 18-seater Nissan bus and within a room in the house.

In total, the agency recovered a staggering 2,001,500 pills of opioids.

Babafemi described the seizure as a heavy setback for drug cartels smuggling drugs between Kano, Yobe, and neighboring Niger Republic.

Separately, in Kumbotso LGA’s Samegu area, NDLEA officers arrested 60-year-old Safiya Shamsu, who was caught with 5.6 kilograms of skunk, a potent variety of cannabis.

Another suspect, 35-year-old Muntari Labaran, was detained in Yelwa, Dala LGA, after authorities found him with 100 litres of codeine syrup.

NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), lauded the commitment of the operatives involved, highlighting their contribution to the agency’s twin efforts in reducing drug supply and curbing demand.

He also praised officers nationwide for their roles in advancing the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campign.

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi, has attributed Nigeria’s stunted growth and rising poverty levels to the failure of political leadership over the years.

He also lamented that Nigeria has more poor people than China, Indonesia, Vietnam, combined.

Obi made this assertion while delivering a lecture on “Politics and Change in Nigeria” at Johns Hopkins University in the United States on Thursday, at the invitation of Professor Peter Lewis, renowned author of “Growing Apart: Comparing Indonesia and Nigeria.”

Sharing highlights of the lecture via his verified X handle on Friday, Obi emphasised that the fate of a nation is closely tied to the quality of its leadership.

“The failure of a nation depends largely on its Political Leadership. Competent, capable and compassionate political leadership, with integrity, will help nations to achieve sustainable growth and development,” he said.

Obi compared Nigeria’s trajectory over the past 35 years with that of three other developing nations such as China, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and pointed out that, while these countries have moved into higher categories of human development, Nigeria has regressed.

“In 1990, the year the measurement of the Human Development Index (HDI) was started, these 3 comparable nations, including Nigeria, were all classified under the medium category… 35 years later, 3 of these nations have moved up to the High category of HDI while Nigeria has fallen into the low category,” he stated.

On the economic front, Obi highlighted how Nigeria, which once had a higher GDP per capita than China and Vietnam, has now fallen far behind.

Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Agency, TRACE, has denied its involvement in the road accident that claimed the life of an unidentified private motorcyclist in Abeokuta.

The accident which occurred at about 5pm opposite Federal High Court, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, on Wednesday, involved an orange and white articulated vehicle with the inscription A&O.

Ekwutosblog gathered that the vehicle which was alleged to have been chased by TRACE officials ran over the motorcyclist while trying to run.

The deceased who was rushed to Federal Medical Centre by road users, gave up the ghost before getting to the hospital.

However, the TRACE Public Relations Officer, Babatunde Akinbiyi, in a statement made available to newsmen on Thursday, stated that the incident was misrepresentation of fact and issues involved.

Akinbiyi maintained that the officers were not chasing the articulated vehicle and its patrol vehicle was on the usual duty of patrolling the highway within the metropolis to ensure free flow of traffic and check.

He asserted that the truck on sighting the patrol vehicle, made a quick and unplanned right turn with speed towards SUBEB, and in the process ran into an unidentified private motorcycle rider from the back.

Akinbiyi noted that in the process, several charms, devilish objects and soap fell off the motorcycle.

He said, “The regrettable incident in question, because it involves human life, is a misrepresentation of facts and issues involved. TRACE was neither chasing nor running after any articulated vehicle because we don’t apprehend at all cost.

“The TRACE patrol vehicle in question was on its normal and usual duty of patrolling the highway within the metropolis to ensure free flow of traffic and check, as well as see to any safety concern that may lead to gridlock, obstruction and loss of man-hour, if not quickly attended to.

“However, on sighting the TRACE patrol vehicle, which is the usual characteristics of articulated vehicle drivers, particularly those who have skeleton in their cupboards, the articulated vehicle driver under consideration, made a quick and unplanned right turn with speed towards SUBEB, and in the process ran into an unidentified private motorcycle rider from the back, with assorted charms, devilish objects and soap falling off the motorcycle.

“Unfortunately, the unidentified private motorcycle rider died at the Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, where he was rushed to.”

Meanwhile, he disclosed that the driver and the articulated vehicle have been apprehended and impounded at the Motor Traffic Division, Nigeria Police Force, Ibara, Abeokuta, for further investigation and likely prosecution.