DSS’ Siege on Our Lagos Office Shocking – EFCC

The operatives of the Lagos Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arrived at their office on No. 15 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, this morning, May 30, 2023, to be denied entry by agents of the Department of State Services, DSS, who had barricaded the entrance with armoured personnel carriers.

This development is strange to the Commission given that we have cohabited with the DSS in that facility for 20 years without incident.

By denying operatives access to their offices, the Commission’s operations at its largest hub with over 500 personnel, hundreds of exhibits, and many suspects in detention have been disrupted.

Cases scheduled for court hearing today have been aborted, while many suspects who had been invited for questioning are left unattended.

Even more alarming is that suspects in detention are left without care with grave implications for their rights as inmates.

All of these have wilder implications for the nation’s fight against economic and financial crimes.

The siege is inconsistent with the synergy expected of agencies working for the same government and nation, especially when there are ongoing discussions on the matter.

NDLEA seizes 126 parcels of Canadian

By Emmanuel Daudu

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have seized 126 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 63 kilograms concealed in a used Toyota Corolla car imported from Toronto, Canada at the Tincan port in Lagos.

According to Femi Babafemi Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters Abuja in a press release he signed on Sunday 30th April 2023, this is even as an attempt by a freight agent, Mordi Chukwuemeka Samuel, to export 900 grams of the same substance, Loud, hidden inside walls of a travelling bag containing food items, to Kenya, was thwarted by NDLEA officers at the SAHCO export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos on Saturday 29th April.

“When Mordi presented the bag, which he claimed contained food items for export, operatives noticed that in the course of searching the consignment, the side walls of the bag were unevenly bloated, after which they dismantled the false packings and recovered the illicit substance.

“The previous day, Friday 28th April, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan port intercepted 63kg Canadian Loud packed in bags in the boot of one of the five used vehicles in a container marked, TLLU4840762 coming from Toronto via Montreal, during a joint examination with other stakeholders at the port. Similarly, men of the Agency’s Directorate of Operations and Investigation, DOGI, attached to courier firms also on Thursday 27th April intercepted 1.53kg skunk concealed in old hard drives meant for export to Dubai, United Arab Emirate.

“In Benue, operatives recovered 859 bottles of Codeine based Syrup weighing 117.3kg abandoned by a suspected dealer about two kilometers away from NDLEA check point along Enugu – Otukpo road on Wednesday 26th April, while two suspects: Kabiru Muhammed, 35, and Isah Muhammed, 28, were arrested with 20 blocks of cannabis weighing 11.2kg concealed in a bag of cassava flakes (garri) along Zaria-Kano road, Kano on Friday 28th April.
No fewer than seven bags of cannabis with a gross weight of 74.5kg were recovered when operatives raided an uncompleted building located in a bush in Ala town, Akure area of Ondo state just as 60kg of the same substance concealed among footwears in two jumbo sacks was recovered from one Aminu Mohammed along Ibadan – Oyo road, Oyo state while waiting to board a vehicle to Kebbi State.

“In Adamawa state, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 29th April raided a clandestine factory in Mubi, where a new psychoactive substance, Akuskura, was being produced in large quantity
and distributed to Chad, Cameroon and Niger Republic. At the time of the raid, production activities were ongoing in the premises”.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended the officers and men of MMIA, Tincan, DOGI, Kano, Ondo, Oyo, Benue and Adamawa Commands of the Agency for their vigilance and professionalism in the discharge of their responsibilities. He charged them and their colleagues across the country not to rest on their oars.

Two Ex-convicts, 46 Others, Arrested for Internet Fraud in Kaduna

The Kaduna Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC has arrested 48 internet fraud suspects, including two women, Precious Malachi Zidyep and Tina Patrick Omoyeme, in a sting operation in Kaduna.

The suspects also include two ex-convicts: Williams Justice Gankon and AbdulWasiu Yunus who were apprehended at Yoruba Street, Yakowa Expressway, Karji, Kaduna State. They were previously arrested on April 10, 2022, prosecuted and convicted on August 31, 2022 by Justice Nasiru Umar Sadiq of the Kaduna State High Court.

The other suspects are Triumph Abdul Yakub Faith, John Joseph Ojima, Benjamin Odey Sunday, Wisdom Omofunhe Billy, Korede Samuel Godiya, Isaiah Sunday, Favor Olayinka Bamidele, Gabriel Sunday, Sunday Simon Ojobo, Steven Dikeh Ebere, Abba Tachio, Moses Njoku Emeka, Okechukwu Kelvin Chidera, Lucius Rakun, Bege Bonet and Jonah Hussaini zisan.

Others include Jamiu Najiem, Mohammed Abdulwasiu, Ayuba Sikiru, Salim Bashir, Khalid Ola Abdulwasiu, Japhet Peter, Collins Haruna, AbdulKadir Afafasimu, Sebastine Yohanna Mamman, Franklin kingsley, Aliyu Suleiman AbdulRaman, Micahl Afred Antozoa, Okoro Henry, Christian Julius Tegu, Bature Japhet Yusuf, Nnamdi Orji Innocent, Macaulay Mathew Olushola, AbdulBasit Abdullahi Yahaya, Joseph Emeka, James Mark, Aminu Sale, Favour Mba, and Okoro Henry.

Most of the suspects were arrested at Rosalux Blue Hotel, Agua, Kaduna South which is fast becoming notorious as a haven for cyber-fraudsters as some suspects had been arrested in the facility by the Commission in the past.

Some of the items recovered from the suspects include mobile phones of different models and laptop computers.

The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigation is concluded.