The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, has pledged the Service’s full backing for the newly inaugurated South-South Development Commission, describing it as a potential driver of regional economic growth.

Mr Adeniyi made the pledge on Thursday, 18 September 2025, when the Commission’s Managing Director, Usoro Akpabio, led her team on a courtesy visit to the Customs Headquarters in Maitama, Abuja.

Congratulating Ms Akpabio on her appointment, the CGC said the Nigeria Customs Service had entered a reform era following the passage of the 2023 Customs Act. He noted that the reforms demanded broad consultations and inclusivity.

“We will keep conversations with the Commission open to ensure inclusivity and shared growth,” Mr Adeniyi said.

He also stressed the urgency of building stronger ties, proposing that both institutions convene again soon to involve wider stakeholders.

Joint Working Team Proposed

The Customs boss suggested creating a joint working team to serve as a “sounding board” for collaboration, particularly in the areas of trade facilitation, border management, and regional economic integration.

Highlighting recent initiatives, Mr Adeniyi recalled that the Customs Service had launched a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme aimed at supporting host communities through education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

“This initiative reflects our broader commitment to inclusive growth and strengthens our partnerships with stakeholders across regions,” he said.

South-South Commission’s Blueprint

Responding, Ms Akpabio commended Customs for its reforms and modernisation drive, calling them exemplary.

Barely three weeks after its inauguration, she explained, the Commission had already been tasked with a wide-ranging mandate covering the blue economy, agriculture, human capital development, infrastructure, and utilities across the South-South states.

Ms Akpabio underlined the importance of Customs in the region’s economic plan, citing its role in seaports, oil and gas operations, free trade zones, and border activities.

“The Commission will pursue a strategic alliance with the Service that will outlive my tenure, promoting transparency, regional growth, and national development,” she said.

A Push for Regional Growth

Both leaders agreed that the collaboration could accelerate economic growth in the South-South, a region pivotal to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, maritime trade, and cross-border commerce.

Observers note that the partnership may boost revenue generation, reduce trade bottlenecks, and create fresh opportunities for development projects in the region.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded major breakthroughs in its war against illicit drug trafficking, arresting two Brazil returnees, a businesswoman, and several suspects across Nigeria in a string of coordinated operations.

According to the agency, the suspects were apprehended with heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, tramadol, and large consignments of cannabis. The seizures, officials said, highlight the growing sophistication of traffickers and the agency’s resolve to dismantle such networks.

Brazil Returnees Caught with Heroin and Cocaine

Two Nigerians who recently returned from Brazil were arrested at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, for attempting to smuggle hard drugs into the country.

Ofoma Sunday, 46, was apprehended on 16 September upon arrival from São Paulo on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. A body scan confirmed he ingested narcotics. Over eight excretions, he expelled 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.45kg.

A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Nweke Jude Chukwudi, 55, at a hotel in Amuwo Odofin, Lagos, where Ofoma had been instructed to excrete and hand over the drugs.

Similarly, Ukachukwu Frank Ikechukwu was intercepted on 19 September after arriving on another Ethiopian Airlines flight from Brazil via Addis Ababa. Under observation, he excreted five wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grams.

Ukachukwu confessed that he initially inserted nine wraps of cocaine but discarded two during transit in Ethiopia due to anal pain. He revealed that he had been deported from the United States in 2022 after an immigration offence before relocating to Brazil in 2025.

Businesswoman Conceals Meth in Underwear

In another operation, NDLEA officers at Lagos airport arrested Okolonkwo Ebere Theresa, a trader from Enugu, on 14 September. She was found concealing 1.40kg of methamphetamine in specially designed butt pad underwear while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha.

She admitted she was lured into the drug business while running a clothing and POS business.

Drugs Hidden in Food and Phone Chargers

At the NAHCO export shed on 15 September, operatives intercepted food items stuffed with 40 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 2.3kg destined for Hong Kong. A 59-year-old man, Umelo Ifeanyi Venatus, who presented the cargo, was arrested.

On 18 September, NDLEA discovered 257 grams of cocaine concealed inside seven phone chargers bound for New Zealand.

Nationwide Raids: Tramadol, Cannabis, and Opioids Seized

The crackdown extended across Nigeria:

Adamawa: 233,800 tramadol pills were recovered in multiple raids. One suspect, Rita Zira, was arrested with 27,900 pills in her bedroom, while another, Halilu Abubakar, 22, was caught with 10,300 pills at a checkpoint.

Zamfara: NDLEA and Community Protection Guards seized 109 bags of cannabis skunk weighing 1,099.4kg from a truck driven by Hammed Danladi Aliyu, 40.

Yobe: Two suspects were caught with 14,000 tramadol capsules on the Damaturu–Potiskum road.

Taraba: Anas Hamisu, 28, was arrested with three sacks of cannabis weighing 25.5kg.

Edo: Two cannabis farms covering 4.53 hectares with a yield of over 11 tonnes were destroyed. Three suspects were arrested at the scene.

NDLEA Vows to Sustain War Against Drug Abuse

NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers involved in the operations, stressing the agency’s commitment to safeguarding communities from drug syndicates.

“These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organizations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space,” he said.

The agency also revealed that its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation programme reached schools, worship centres, and communities nationwide during the same period.

…..After Committing Attempted Murder in Lagos.

In furtherance to curtailing all forms of crimes and criminality in Lagos State, the State Commissioner of Police Olohundare Moshood Jimoh has once again proved his mettles with another Record breaking achievement by the Investigation branch of the Command.

The Crime bursting dexterity of police detectives of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Yaba Lagos State came to reckon again with its recent and painstaking nabbing of a notorious Criminal in faraway northern Axis of the country.

The alleged blood thirsty robber, One Adewale Mathew purportedly went underground went after Committing heinous crimes of robbery and attempted Murder in Lagos. The suspect had on 19th July, 2025. at Chevron Lekki Axis, Area of Lagos State. Violently attacked a popular Nigerian hip hop artist Keshinro Ololade Sodiq popularly known as Lil Kesh at his female acquaintance apartment where the celebrity visited at Chrevron, Lekki area of Lagos State.

Gaining access into the apartment through the rear window and armed with two sharp kitchen knives, the suspect with dare devil precision, sliced the throat and stomach of the musician as he violently robbed him of his wearing apparels including Gold, Necklace, Diamond Ring and Bracelets worth millions of naira.

In the course of the ugly incident, the suspect was alleged to have forcefully demanded for Kesh’s bank details and cell phone passwords which he used to transact and purchase from a gold dealer based in Tejuosho Yaba, Lagos of gold worth five million two hundred thousand naira.

The suspected armed robber was said to have personally proceeded to claim the gold after leaving Kesh in his pool of blood. In View of the subject above CP Lagos Olohundare Jimoh Moshood swiftly directed DCP in charge of State CID Panti Lagos to burst the crime and bring the perpetrators to instant Justice. A combined team of seasoned financial crimes Detectives and Anti-Robbery Operatives From the Department was meticulously selected by the order of the Officer-in-Charge Deputy Commissioner of Police Dayo Akinbisehin and despatched to Kano State as they reportedly stormed the ancient city earlier last week, where the fleeing suspect was arrested in his hideout and whisked back to Lagos on Wednessday the 17th September, 2025. for interrogation and prosecution.

Meanwhile, the case was said to have taken a different dimension where in the event of being grilled, Adewale Mathew confessed to the crime and indicted Lil Kesh’s host, a female companion (names witheld) as the main architect and masterminder of the robbery scheme.

Following the allegation, Investigation is currently ongoing to ascertain the Propriety or otherwise of the suspected dare devil robbers claim of dragging LIL Kesh’s host as an accomplice to the heinous crime, in line with supporting evidence being gathered. All the suspects including the security guards of the property where the incident took place are currently helping the police in it’s discreet Investigation.

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Command, CP Olohundare Jimoh, Applauds the gallantry and commitment of the operatives of State CID Panti, Lagos State that led to the successful arrest of this notorious suspect.

CP Olohundare Jimoh Seizes this medium to reaffirm his unwavering committment to rid the entirety of Lagos State of Criminal elements, as Lagos Police Command remains resolute and relentless in pursuing offenders and dismantling their Network chain while seeking cooperation and Vital informations from members of the Public.