Two masterminds were arrested and taken into custody after a raid on their hideout in Lekki area of Lagos.

The drug syndicate run by the duo of Deji Adesanya and Olubiyi Majekodunmi had imported consignments of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis and a variety of colourful designer sachets with pictures and labels of cookies and snacks printed on them, and used to package the psychoactive substance in retail quantities.

Following credible intelligence about the activities of the syndicate which operates and distributes through a WhatsApp platform, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 22nd November 2025 raided their apartment at Ojulari Street, Ikate area of Lekki where a large quantity of the designer sachets and 5 kilogrammes of Loud were recovered from them at the point of their arrest.

In another operation in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Thursday 27th November arrested a 38-year-old drug kingpin Philip Ucheka while taking delivery of 110 pouches of Canadian Loud weighing 55.6kg at Ladipo area of Mushin. At the point of his arrest, three delivery vehicles were also seized from him.

At a courier company in Lagos, 100grams of Loud concealed in teddy bear imported from Thailand were intercepted on Thursday 27th November while a consignment of 548 capsules of tramadol hidden in bottles of Vitamin C and Magnesium going to the United Kingdom were recovered at another logistics firm the following day, Friday 28th November.

In Oyo State, NDLEA officers on patrol along Lagos -Ibadan Expressway on Saturday 29th November nabbed a suspect Wasiu Kareem, 55, with 8,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection; 590 bottles of codeine syrup; 1,500 pills of Co-codamol and 9,900 capsules of tramadol.

No fewer than seven suspects were arrested on Monday 24th November when NDLEA operatives raided the Ipe forest in Akoko South East area of Ondo State where they recovered 3,077 kilogrammes of skunk, a strain of cannabis.

Those arrested include John Ede; Ede Ndubuisi; Ikenna Abe; Eze Chukwuma; Maduabuchi Odo; Nnaji Chudubem and Gorge Okowor.

While Anthony Sylvester, 49, was arrested along Okene/Lokoja highway Kogi State conveying 649kg skunk in a truck on Wednesday 26th November, NDLEA officers at the Seme Special Area Command on Friday 28th November raided a warehouse at Ashipa, Seme border area of Badagry, Lagos where they arrested a suspect Abubakar Shuaibu, 33,  with 487 blocks of skunk weighing 243.5kg.

In Kano, Tsalha Alasan, 47, was arrested along Zaria-Kano road with 137kg skunk on Monday 24th November, while three suspects, Godspower Appeal, 50; Ernest Upong, 55; and Godday Chukwudi, 38, were nabbed on Wednesday 26th November with 322 blocks of skunk weighing 209kilograms at Fanshanu village, Toro local government area, Bauchi State.

A black Toyota Highlander SUV marked ABJ 533 EA used in conveying the consignment was also recovered from them.

A suspect, John Ekojo, 51, was arrested with 210.15kg skunk along Abuja/Jos Highway on Saturday 29th November, while a couple, Abdullahi Abubakar, 45, and Jamila Abdullahi, 35, were nabbed along Abuja/Kaduna Highway with 725 rounds of 7.62 mm live ammunition concealed in a sack of maize just as another suspect Awwal Sabiu, 20, was caught with 400 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition at Abuja/Kaduna tollgate on Friday 28th November.

With the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.

These include WADA sensitization lecture to students and staff of Government Junior Technical School, Kofar Kudu, Kano; Bright Eyes International School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; dock workers and clearing agents at the Tincan Port, Lagos; Legacy International College, Nsukka, Enugu; and Seatos School, Ikorodu, Lagos, among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, Kogi, Kaduna, Kano, Seme and Bauchi commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.

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The EFCC had dragged Agunloye before Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Apo, Abuja, on amended seven count-charge, bordering on disobedience to presidential directive, forgery and receiving gratification.

At the resumed hearing in the matter, Prosecution counsel, M. K. Hussain, holding the brief of Abba Muhammed, SAN, informed the court that he was ready for the cross examination of PW3.

He also stated that the prosecution had filed its second amended charge against the defendant.

He urged the court to allow the defendant to take his plea on the second amended charge.

But counsel for Agunloye, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, did not object to his client taking plea to the second amended charge.

The amended seven count charge was subsequently read to the defendant and Agunloye, however, pleaded not guilty to the amended charge.

In the amended charge marked FCT/HC/CR/617/2023, EFCC alleged that Agunloye on May 22, 2003 knowingly disobeyed the directive of the president made at the Federal Executive Council meeting of May 21, 2023.

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He claimed that the directive was in pursuant to the president’s powers under Section 5(1)(a) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The prosecution further alleged that the defendant went ahead and signed a letter addressed to Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited, SPTCL, conveying the “approval of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for the construction of the 3,960 megawatts Mambila Hydroelectric Power Station.”

EFCC also alleged that on May 22, 2003, Agunloye conspired with Leno Adesanya of SPTCL now at large to do an illegal act to wit; forgery of a letter titled, “Construction of 3,960 megawatts Mambila Hydroelectric Power Station on a build, operate and transfer basis.”

The commission among others alleged that the former minister on different dates in 2019 received various sums of money, totalling N5.212 million from SPTCL and Leno Adesanya, through Jide Abiodun Sotirin through Agunloye’s Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account, for conveying the Federal Government’s approval for the construction of the Mambila Hydroelectric Power Station.

The former minister has consistently maintained his innocence of the charge preferred against him by the anti-graft agency.

After his not-guilty plea, Hussain informed the court that the PW3, Umar Hussein Babangida, was absent in court.

He, therefore, pleaded with the court to vacate the earlier dates of September 22 and 25 fixed for hearing the case, adding that the former dates had been communicated to the defence team.

Based on parties’ agreement, Justice Onwuegbuzie consequently adjourned the matter until October 9 for cross examination of the PW3.

Source: NAN

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Ground fighting is hand-to-hand combat. It is on the ground. It is a term used in mixed martial arts. Do you remember Israel Adesanya of the Ultimate Fighting Championship fame? Other combat sports use ground fighting. It is a set of grappling techniques. It is the focus of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It comes in varying degrees in Catch-wrestling, judo, jujutsu, sambo, and shoot. It is useful in some schools of Shuai Jiao and other styles of wrestling.

On the one hand

The fighting ground of all fintech and alternative banking services providers is customer onboarding. To succeed in this fight, strict adherence to KYC measures prevails. Tension abounds. Pressure heightens. Research has shown that as KYC banking regulations heat up, fintech and banks are under pressure. Because financial crime is increasing. The challenges for banks and fintech to be compliant have also surged.

On the other hand

“The central pillar of KYC is validating the authenticity of a new customer during the onboarding process. Business onboarding involves untangling complex business structures. And identifying the ultimate beneficial owner. This part of the KYC process in banking is online. This is due to the onboarding standard of automatic video identification,” a report by Electronic IDentification disclosed.

The RegTech firm detailed how new KYC requirements for banks are helping in the longstanding battle with the scourge of financial crime. It shared that financial service providers play a key role. This role has helped to stop the proliferation of dirty money from getting into the global financial system. As such, developing a nuanced understanding of what KYC entails in banking and fintech is imperative for all financial service providers.

In the long term

In “How KYC Requirements for Banks are helping to Fight Financial Crime,” the report stated that with challenges from financial crime on the increase, regulators such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) have already upped their compliance measures. It has called on firms to adopt RegTech solutions as best practice for KYC compliance.

The initial customer onboarding is the first step in KYC bank compliance. Customer due diligence should be performed regularly. Depending on the risk that was determined during onboarding, the frequency and intensity of bank KYC can increase. “The customer’s risk assessment level feeds into anti-money laundering (AML) continuous monitoring with AML rules becoming stricter for riskier customers,” it announced.

The report mentioned that maintaining strict adherence to KYC compliance is necessary. Not only for the huge financial penalties, but also for avoiding the reputational damage associated with money laundering scandals.

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Many KYC processes aim to triage customers according to their relative risk for banking and financial service needs. KYC documents provide banks with the proof required for identification verification. And customer risk assessment. The complexity of documents required has increased for banks and fintech companies aiming to operate globally. Now, every country and each jurisdiction in a country has different document requirements in different languages.

The report claims, screening thousands of documents in hundreds of languages is difficult. It is beyond the capacity of a human-powered KYC team. For financial institutions aiming to expand globally, an AI-powered KYC solution, a qualified electronic signature, has become the ‘simplest and most cost-efficient way to maintain compliance’.

Mojisola Sonde, writing in complianceinafrica.com, said KYC has one goal. To prevent the banks and fintechs from being used intentionally or unintentionally by criminals for money laundering.

In the short term 

Are you sure illicit funds do not pass through banks or fintech? Are fintech’s customer identification programmes (CIP) thorough? Do you want to pick a fight?

*Olaegbe (psalmsonolaegbe@gmail.com)

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The biennial festival is to officially commence on Sunday.

The Director General, National Sports Commission, NSC, Bukola Olopade, made the disclosure on Saturday in Abeokuta.

Olopade said that there were visible signs that the state would host the best festival in the history of the country.

“Twenty-three states are already in the camp; their feeding and welfare are top-notch and seamless.

“I just spoke with leaders of four states who are already praising the state.

“Globally, if you have an event of this nature, the first thing is accommodation and feeding,” he said.

Finishing touches were ongoing at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta, venue of the opening ceremony.

Different cultural troops were at the main bowl of the stadium rehearsing performances for the ceremony.

Some sports fans and analysts expressed confidence that the festival would surpass the successes recorded in the last edition in Delta State.

Mr Abiodun Alabi, Abeokuta-based sports journalist, said he believed that the sports festival would be better than the previous edition.

Alabi expressed hope that new talents would be discovered from the festival.

“The event will throw more talents that will go on to represent Nigeria at national and international events. It will also create expected economic opportunities for the people of the state.

“The game already left a legacy in terms of infrastructure; the MKO Abiola Stadium, with its new look and capacity, can now host major international events,” he said.

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“Already we have three events coming after this festival, and that’s clearly one of the things that come with a national sports festival.”

Mr Micheal Adesanya, a sports fan, expressed confidence that the festival would come out as a good event in terms of the quality of athletes and talent discovery.

Adesanya noted that the festival was to promote unity among Nigerians.

He appealed to the organisers not to politicise the games, calling on authorities to ensure that proper talents were discovered to replace ageing ones.

Source: NAN

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The middleweight bout was the UFC Fight Night 250 main event at ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Adesanya kicked high and to the body in the first few seconds.

A minute in, Imavov got inside for a quick combination, but had to fend off a high kick from the ex-champ on the exit.

When Imavov stayed after a slightly sloppy double-leg takedown, Adesanya turned tables on him and pulled off a short throw of his own in defense.

Moments later, he again staved off an Imavov clinch attempt.

With about 70 seconds left in the opening frame, just when it looked like Adesanya had mastered the range against Imavov with stance switches and general evasiveness, Imavov popped Adesanya’s head back with a tight uppercut to make an impression.

In the second, Adesanya complained of an eye poke and got a brief stoppage.

But he very quickly asked Marc Goddard to get things going again.

And no sooner did that happen, Imavov drilled Adesanya with a right hand and put him on the canvas.

Imavov pounced on him on the fence immediately, and a left uppercut along the cage was worse.

Several more punches from Imavov, and things were done in a stunner.

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“I said it all week long that I was in perfect shape,” Imavov told Paul Felder in his post-fight interview. “I proved it tonight that I was the better striker. Now the real bonus for me is going to be to fight for the belt.”

The loss was Adesanya’s third straight – and his first in a non-title fight.

In fact, the fight was his first non-title fight in about six years.

Imavov now can make a great case for a middleweight title shot.

He has won seven of his past eight fights, and the lone loss in that stretch was up a weight class at light heavyweight against ex-middleweight champ Sean Strickland.

Along with Adesanya, his four-fight winning streak features a stoppage of recent title challenger Jared Cannonier.

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Chief Akin Onifade, the Sajuku of Esa-Oke told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Friday that Adesanya would be honoured at the Esa-Oke Day celebration later this year.

The celebrated Nigerian-New Zealand UFC middleweight combatant arrived Lagos on Wednesday, few days after losing the UFC 305 crown to South African Dricus Du Plessis.

After five consecutive UFC wins, Adesanya won the interim middle weight title against Kelvin Castelum in April, 2019 and unified the champion with a talent victory against Robert Whittaker in October that year.

Onifade said that Adesanya was given a carnival-like welcome at the palace of the Owa-Omiran of Esa-Oke, Oba Alayeluwa Adeyemi Adediran on Thursday.

“The Esa-Oke born UFC star was ushered into the palace by traditional drummers in company of an enthusiastic crowd of highly elated youths and family members and other eminent Nigerians.

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“The elated Owa-Omiran was full of praises to God for the feats achieved by the young artist, and prayed extensively for his glory to continue to shine brighter and brighter to the glory of God.

“The revered Owa-Omiran announced that the Ananye ruling house born Israel will be honoured during the Esa-Oke Day celebration later this year,” he said.

According to him, Adesanya expressed gratitude to the traditional ruler and the entire community for the warm reception and the honour accorded him.

“Adesanya in his response said he was delighted to be back to his roots and promised to always make Nigeria proud,” he said.

Present at the reception include the Asalu of Esa-Oke, High Chief James Ajewole and the Odogun of Esa-Oke, High Chief Olatunde Esan; Looyin of Esa-Oke, Chief Wale Aregbesola; Sajuku of Esa-Oke, Chief Akinwumi Onifade.

Others include the Obalogbo of Esa-Oke, Chief Olabode Ajayi; Osolu of Esa-Oke, Chief Ajiboye; Aro of Erinjinyan, Esa-Oke, Chief Akanni Omole and the Loja of Kajola-Esa-Oke, Oba Akande Adebiyi.

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The chairman of the House Committee on Justice, Ethics, and Public Petitions, Oluseun Adesanya, issued the summon in Abeokuta on Monday during a committee meeting with representatives of the Agboro Latunde Community Development Association.

The association was led by its chairman, Olaseni Adeoye, and the Secretary, Koyade Onitande.

The community had accused the traditional ruler of forcibly taking possession of land belonging to some members of the community.

Adesanya, in company of other lawmakers, explained that the invitation of the traditional ruler became imperative, as part of the quasi-judicial function of the assembly.

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The lawmaker also explained that it was important to give all concerned parties in the dispute a fair hearing in accordance with the principle of the rule of law.

He further noted that petitions against the traditional ruler included alleged cases of land grabbing, threats to life and actions likely to cause communal clashes in the Agboro community.

The committee chairman warned that the failure of the royal father to honour the invitation would prompt the Assembly to involve security operatives to take appropriate action.

Source: NAN

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He downed the Brazilian in the second round to avenge his only UFC defeat at middleweight.

After a cagey opening frame that saw Pereira target Adesanya’s lead leg with brutal kicks, the fight burst into life in the second, with both men landing head kicks early.

But Adesanya’s crisp boxing soon began to tell.

With the second round winding down, Adesanya was backed up against the cage.

But he suddenly uncorked a huge right hand and followed it up with another to knock Pereira out cold and take back the belt he lost to the Brazilian in November.

Adesanya followed Pereira down to the mat but referee Dan Mirgliotta waved the fight off, returning the Nigerian-born New Zealander to the top of the middleweight pile.

This is a weight class he has dominated for the last four years.

“I played possum a bit … look at me, I am here, he is here, that last one (punch) had everything. That last hammer fist was from the gods,” Adesanya said in a post-fight interview in the cage.

The 33-year-old told the fans in attendance that he hoped they would have the chance to feel the same joy that he was feeling in that moment.

“If you stay down, you will never ever get that resolve. Fortify your mind and feel this level of happiness as you rise,” said Adesanya, who had never beaten Pereira in MMA or kickboxing in three previous meetings.

In the co-main event, local favourite Jorge Masvidal announced his retirement in the cage after losing a unanimous decision to Brazil’s Gilbert Burns.

Source: Reuters/NAN

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According to the spokesman of the command, SP Abimbola Oyeyemi, the suspects were arrested on Saturday.

The suspects – Oshole Fayemi, 60; Osemi Adesanya 39; Ismaila Seidu 30; Oseni Oluwasegun 69 and Lawal Olaiya 50 – Oyeyemi said, were arrested, following an information received by the Police at Odogbolu divisional headquarters, that the gang allegedly responsible for series of corpse exhumation within Ososa community was planning somewhere within the town to carry out another round of human parts harvest.

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The police officer said upon the information, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Odogbolu division, CSP Godwin Idehai, mobilized his men and stormed the suspects’ hideout where five of them were apprehended.

He said on interrogation, the suspects made confessional statements that they were actually into the business of exhuming corpses from their graves, and that they used to sell parts of such corpses to their standby buyers who needed it for money making rituals.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Frank Mba, is said to have directed that the suspects be transferred to State Criminal Investigation Departments for discreet investigation and possible prosecution.

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Ojukwu, an undergraduate, is standing trial before a Lagos State High Court sitting at Tafawa Balewa Square, for the alleged murder of Ataga.

She is also charged with stealing and forgery alongside her sister, Chioma Egbuchu, and one Adedapo Quadri.

The court had on November 17, 2022, slated for January 11, adoption of written addresses in a trial-within-trial it conducted to ascertain if the statement of the defendant at a police station was made voluntarily.

The defendant had told the court that she was slapped and forced to sign statements written by the police.

Ojukwu said so while testifying in the trial-within-trial.

The defendant said during her defence that ASP Olusegun Bamidele and Olufunke Madeyinlo told her to sign statements against her will.

She also said that Bamidele told her to narrate his own written statement to the commissioner of police after tearing her statement.

At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, prosecution counsel, Mr T. E. Onilade, informed the court that prosecution received Ojukwu’s written address last week.

Onilade said, “The first defendant’s address was served on us during the festive period; we only received service last week but we have not replied.”

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Ojukwu’s counsel, Mr O. Okemezie, confirmed that the address was dated December 23, 2022, adding that there was a motion on notice in support of the written address as well as a seven-paragraph affidavit.

Justice Yetunde Adesanya adjourned the case until February 13 for adoption of the written addresses.

The defendants were arraigned on October 12, 2021, on a nine-count charge preferred by Lagos State Government.

Ojukwu and Quadri are facing the first to eight counts bordering on conspiracy, murder, stabbing, forgery, making of bank statements and stealing.

The third defendant, Egbuchu, is facing the ninth count – stealing of an iPhone 7 belonging to the late Ataga.

Ojukwu and Quadri are alleged to have conspired and murdered Ataga on June 15, 2021, by stabbing him several times with a knife on the neck and chest.

The duo was also accused of committing forgery by procuring and making bank statements of account purported to have been made by the deceased.

The alleged murder took place at No.19, Adewale Oshin St., Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State.

Source: NAN

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