The Rivers State Government has condemned a publication titled ‘Julius Berger withdraws from Rivers’ project sites’, authored by Bertram Nwannekanma, and published in The Guardian Newspaper on May 27, 2025.

The government, in a statement by the Senior Special Adviser to the Rivers State Administrator on Media, Hector Igbikiowubo, described the said publication as misleading and malicious.

The statement read in part, “The report, which falsely claims that Julius Berger Nigeria PLC has begun withdrawing its services from project sites in Rivers State due to alleged shortfalls in payments by the government, is a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the administration.

“Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Rivers State Government has consistently and dutifully met all its contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the State.”

The State Government described the report as baseless, saying it is “nothing more than a campaign of calumny orchestrated after failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an exorbitant and unjustified variation request for the ongoing Ring Road project.”

The statement gave the facts as follows: “The original contract sum for the Ring Road project was N195,695,980,239.61 billion.

“Julius Berger submitted a variation request demanding an additional N171,755,448,105.05 billion, representing an 87.77% increase in project cost. If approved, this would raise the total project cost to a staggering N367,451,428,344.66 billion.”

The State Government recalled that, “It is important to note that in an attempt to forestall such unreasonable claims and protect the State from such arbitrary variation requests, the Rivers State Government at the commencement of the project took a facility from a bank and paid a 77% advance payment in the sum of 150,000,000,000.00 to Julius Berger.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered and dismantled a criminal syndicate specialising in sponsoring Hajj pilgrims as drug couriers to Saudi Arabia, arresting three key cartel leaders in Kano.

The kingpins, Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, were apprehended last Tuesday and Wednesday, May 27 and 28, in follow-up operations after two intending pilgrims were arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, with 90 cocaine pellets.

According to a statement released yesterday by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the two suspects, Ibrahim Mustapha and Muhammad Shifado, were intercepted on May 26 during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 940 to Jeddah.

Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives subjected the pilgrims to a body scan, which confirmed ingestion of illicit substances.

Babafemi added that the suspects were placed under excretion observation and subsequently excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, totalling 90 pellets weighing 1.04kg.

“Investigation soon unravelled their sponsors as leaders of a notorious drug trafficking network, which specialises in trafficking illicit drugs to Saudi Arabia. A swift follow-up operation was carried out, and the trio of Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba were arrested on May 27 and 28, 2025 in Kano, ” he added.

Also in Kano, NDLEA officers at the same airport arrested a 60-year-old businessman, Chinedu Leonard Okigbo, on Wednesday, 28 May.

Babafemi said Okigbo was intercepted during clearance for Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran.

“His body scan confirmed ingestion of illicit substances, and during excretion observation, he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg,” he added.

Elsewhere, Babafemi said operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, in Rivers State, conducted a joint examination of seven watch-listed containers between May 28 and May 30.

The operation yielded a massive haul of 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and trodol valued at ?5.78 billion, along with 5.1 million pills of tapentadol 225mg valued at ?3.57 billion—bringing the total street value to ?9.35 billion.

In another major bust in Kano, NDLEA operatives patrolling the Kano-Maiduguri Road on 30 May intercepted Abubakar Hussein (42) and Sahabi Adamu (53) with $900,000 in suspected counterfeit currency.

The case has been transferred to the appropriate authorities for further investigation.

In Adamawa State, 390 compressed blocks of skunk cannabis weighing 275.3kg were abandoned in a Toyota Sienna parked along Ngurore–Yola Road on Tuesday, May 27.

In Kwara State, a notorious female drug dealer, Alhaja Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, was arrested on 31 May at the Oja Oba area of Ilorin.

“Various quantities of opioids, including tramadol, flunitrazepam, and codeine-based syrup, were recovered from her residence,” Babafemi added.

Commending the agency’s operatives for their commitment, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), praised the Commands at MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa for their recent achievements.

He also lauded officers nationwide for maintaining a strategic balance between drug supply reduction and demand reduction efforts.

The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi, has lamented that Nigeria is currently engulfed in a serious insecurity crisis with bandits residing in many communities.

Sanusi stated that Nigerians are living alongside bandits and Boko Haram insurgents.

He made these remarks during the 60th birthday celebration of former Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, in Abuja on Saturday.

Sanusi said, “For all those cautioning that we should be careful before entering a crisis, please wake up.

“We are living with bandits and Boko Haram; we are already there.

“We are already in crisis; it has already happened. The question is how do we get out of it.”

He also attributed Nigeria’s multi-dimensional poverty to the failure of its leaders.

The former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria criticised the country’s elites for being unaware of the extent of poverty afflicting Nigeria.

Sanusi has consistently highlighted the deteriorating security situation, particularly in the northern parts of Nigeria, where banditry and insurgency have become deeply entrenched.

His pronouncements have often served as a reminder to both the populace and the government of the gravity of the crisis.

He has repeatedly linked the widespread violence to rising poverty, displacement, and a general sense of despair among affected populations.