News headlines for the 9th of March 2021.

Table of Contents

NDLEA arrests notorious trafficker, stops US, China, UAE-bound parcels

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on Monday said its operatives in Anambra State recovered 58.5 grammes of cocaine and 13.9 grammes of heroin concealed in the palace of a prominent traditional ruler in the state.
The state NDLEA Commander, Muhammadu Idris, in a statement, noted that palace guards were assisting the agency in tracking the dealer.
The agency said a notorious drug trafficker, Hassan Taiwo, was arrested by operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos State, with three parcels of cocaine concealed in a false bottom created in his suitcase.
According to the statement, Taiwo was intercepted at the E-Arrival Hall upon arrival aboard an Ethiopian airline at 1.30pm last Friday.
The Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), commended the commanders, men and officers involved in the operations for their vigilance and urged them to continue the fight against hard drugs in the country.

The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Aisha Buhari, broke her long silence as she sent goodwill message to Nigerian women on the International Women’s Day.
Recall that Mrs Buhari had gone off the radar around September 2020. An online newspaper, SaharaReporters, had reported that she relocated to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, citing security issues.

But on Monday, she posted a goodwill message on her Twitter handle, @Aishambuhari. In her message, while celebrating the international women’s day and all Nigerian women, she also lamented the continued abduction of women and girls in Nigeria by bandits and terrorists.
She called on all stakeholders to continue to exert their different levels of influence and bring the abductions to an end.

The Nigerian Army has cautioned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, against making divisive and disparaging utterances against the military institutions.
It stated that the army did not deploy its troops along ethnic or religious lines as stated by the cleric during his interaction with bandits.
The army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Yerima, mentioned this in a statement in reaction to a video in which Gumi accused non-Muslim soldiers of attacking the bandits.
In the clip, the islamic scholar was seen telling the bandits that soldiers are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims.
But Yerima in his statement on Monday admonished the cleric and other “opinion merchants” to exercise restraint and not drag the image and reputation of “one of the most reliable national institutions to disrepute.”

Kwara on Monday rescinded its decision to reopen 10 schools shut on account of a controversy surrounding the wearing of hijab by their students, citing safety reasons.
The reversal of the government’s decision came just as one of the affected founders of the schools, the Cherubim and Seraphim (C&S) Church, ended a seven-day prayer session also on Monday.
The government shut the schools on Feb. 19 as the controversy seemed unending.
It set up a committee of all stakeholders to decide the way forward and it was agreed after consultations that hijab-wearing students be allowed in the schools.

Nigerian refugees who fled to Cameroon due to Boko Haram insurgency began returning to their homeland on Monday in a voluntary repatriation process, an official said.
Cameroon’s Minister of Territorial Administration Paul Nji said this in Maroua, the chief town of Cameroon’s far north region just before take-off for Nigeria’s Borno state.
The first batch, consisting of 5,000 refugees who spent six years in Cameroon’s Minawao refugee camp, boarded buses as they began the journey.
He said the journey was taking place in strict respect of anti-COVID 19 measures and announced that Cameroon has provided a “special relief package” for the returnees as they start their new life.

More than 57,000 Nigerians, mostly from Borno, have been taking refuge in the Minawao refugee camp, located in Mokolo, the Far North region of Cameroon, according to the United Nations.