[UPDATED]Ex-footballer, Brazilian returnee arrested at Lagos airport for cocaine trafficking – Newstrends
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[UPDATED]Ex-footballer, Brazilian returnee arrested at Lagos airport for cocaine trafficking

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Okafor Emmanuel Junior

As NDLEA nabs 2 Malians over attempt to export Akuskura, physically challenged drug dealer in Ogun, Turkey-bound businesswoman

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested an ex-footballer, Okafor Emmanuel Junior at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, on his arrival from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on board an Ethiopian airlines flight with 1.40kg crack cocaine concealed in his bags.

The 33-year-old indigene of Arochukwu Local Government, Abia State was arrested on Monday 26th September 2022 after anti-narcotic officers discovered he concealed the illicit substance in the handles of his bags and padded the top edges of same with the class A drug.

During preliminary interview, Okafor disclosed that he was an ex-footballer with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, UNTH Enugu FC, where he played for four seasons before leaving for Sri Lanka in 2014. He further stated that he moved to Brazil from Sri Lanka after playing for two seasons but could not advance his football career in Brazil due lack of official documents.

Another Brazilian returnee, Ibeh Chinedu Damian was arrested same day upon his arrival at the Lagos airport from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Ethiopian airlines flight. Ibeh who hails from Ahiazu, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, was found to have concealed 3.20kg black cocaine popularly known as Lucci in false bottoms of his two bags.

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In his statement, he said he was to be paid three million, one hundred thousand naira (N3,100,000) on successful delivery of the drug in Nigeria.

In the same vein, attempt by a 32-year-old businesswoman, Mrs. Pamela Odin to traffic 2.150kg tablets of rohypnol through the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, NAIA, Abuja to Istanbul, Turkey has been thwarted by NDLEA operatives. The mother of one was arrested on Friday 23rd Sept. while attempting to board a Turkish airline flight with the drug concealed inside pepper and packed among foodstuff.

The indigene of Afiesere village, Ughelli North Local Government, Delta State said she operates a restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey but came to Nigeria to see her relatives and buy food items for her restaurant business.

Meanwhile, two Malians: Mohammed Demoele, 38 and Coulibaly Maliki, 56, have been arrested by officers of the Marine Unit of NDLEA at Ebute Ero jetty in Lagos for attempting to export 34.2kg bottles of new psychoactive substance, Akuskura to Mali through Cotonou, Benin Republic.

In Taraba state, operatives on Thursday 29th Sept. intercepted 100 compressed blocks of Cannabis Sativa weighing 73.500kg, concealed inside animal feeds, while their counterparts in Ogun state on Saturday 1st October arrested a physically challenged drug dealer, Abdulraham Mohammed, with 104kg of compressed Cannabis Sativa recovered from him. Another suspect, Ms. Safiya Bello, was also arrested in Shagamu area of the state with 27kg of the psychotropic substance.

Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of Seaports Operations, MMIA, Ogun, and Taraba Commands for their resilience, while charging them and others across the country to intensify ongoing offensive action against drug cartels and traffickers wherever they may be located in any part of Nigeria.

Femi Babafemi
Director, Media & Advocacy
NDLEA Headquarters Abuja
Sunday 2nd October 2022

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Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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Olubunmi Abodund with late wife Taiwo
Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

Olubunmi Abodunde, a Nigerian living in the United Kingdom, reportedly beat his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, according to the Daily Mail.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and frequently feuded over reported relationships and financial disagreements.

According to the news outlet, 48-year-old Abodunde had been investigated by Suffolk Police several times for domestic abuse and was scheduled to stand trial for murder, but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after the jury was sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of fringes’ inside the house, which Abodunde had entered despite bail restrictions imposed the day before that barred him from the residence due to another violent incident.

When they arrived 25 minutes later, they discovered Taiwo, 41, with her’skull bashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, cautioned him that the only conceivable penalty was life imprisonment.

Suffolk Constabulary submitted itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed that three officers were being investigated.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

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Abodunde has a history of mistrust and distrust towards his wife, accusing her of having affairs. He had been probed by police several times for alleged domestic abuse episodes prior to his wife’s murder.

He was detained on April 27 of last year, when police came to the couple’s house in Newmarket, Suffolk, and discovered Mrs. Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was released on police bail with the condition that he stay away from the marital residence and avoid approaching his wife.

However, after completing a night shift at Tesco, he returned home shortly after 9 a.m. to reportedly pick up his mobile phone.

At 9.20 a.m., two cops arrived to take Mrs. Abodunde’s testimony regarding the previous night’s incident, and they heard persistent banging inside.

But it wasn’t until 9.55 a.m. that they pushed their way in with permission from senior officers and discovered Mrs. Abodunde ‘clearly dead’ near the front entrance.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been throttled until unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were fractured, before her husband used the skateboard to kill her off. The hits were so hard that the skateboard was ruined.

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court that the hammering officers heard was most likely caused by Abodunde continuing to assault his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs. Abodunde worked as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, a civil engineer by training, was unable to find work and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

Following his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to the hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode.”.

He later argued in a police statement that he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife. I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

However, the court heard that, while he had a hand injury, no knife was found near his wife’s body.

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the amount of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and could have been influenced by the medicine he was on. However, she stated that no medical evidence would be supplied to back her assertion.

Following the court, Suffolk Police Detective Inspector Dan Connick stated, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a long-term impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.”

“We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

“Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends, and we hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.”

Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

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Major AG Mohammed

Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

Barely one week after Nigerian Army lost two captains and four other soldiers in a deadly ambush in Niger State, another officer has lost his life to bandits’ attacks in Katsina State.

According to a report by security analyst and counter insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, on Friday, Major AG Mohammed, died while confronting bandits.

“The news of the demise of Major Ag Mohammed of 17 brigade Katsina state, Operation Hadarin DAJI, is indeed heart wrenching.

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” Mohammed paid the supreme price while combating bandits in the North West of Katsina State. Until his death he serves as the command Covering yantumaki,Dan Ali and Kankara Axis. He was one of the most gallant, courageous and highly dedicated officers.

Nigeria has lost many gallant officers and soldiers to the bullets of Boko Haram (BH) insurgents, banditry, and other insecurities.

We therefore acknowledge with respect the services of our heroes—some of whom we admire for their courage, and outstanding achievements coupled with noble qualities that have laid down their lives for us to live,” the security expert said in a post on X handle.

Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

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Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

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Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

Eleven members of a suspected cult group who allegedly terrorised the inhabitants of the Ihembosi community in Anambra State’s Ekwusigo Local Government Area have been apprehended by Zone 13 Police Headquarters operatives in Ukpo.

The defendants were arrested for allegedly trespassing on Las Vegas Hotels Limited’s premises in Ubahu village.

About 12 more members of the group are believed to be on the run as authorities continue to pursue them.

According to a police source who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the agency, the suspects were arrested on Monday in response to a strongly worded petition to Godwin Aghaulor, Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 13 Police Command. The Zone 13 Police Command oversees police forces in Anambra, Enugu, and parts of Ebonyi states.

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Aghaulor, who verified the suspects’ arrests at his office on Thursday, stated that the police will conduct discreet investigations into the case to determine the intentions behind the action, while a manhunt has been begun to apprehend the fleeing criminals.

Chief Omenife Onwuatu, the proprietor of Las Vegas Hotels Limited, petitioned the AIG for his intervention to curb the menace of the cultist group, which he claimed invaded his hotel on March 10, 2024, with about 12 motorcycles, charms, cudgels, cutlasses, axes, and other dangerous weapons and terrorised the hotel’s owners, management, and staff, threatening to kill anyone in sight.

Onwuatu, who is also the Chairman of Ubahu village, had previously warned the group to stop performing rituals in front of the nearby stream and to relocate their shrine to its base, but his warning did not go down well with the suspects, whom he simply identified as “idol worshippers, who earn their living through rituals.”

Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

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