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NDLEA Trains Six W/African Countries On Dismantling Secret Labs
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has conducted a regional training for six West African countries on how to dismantle secret laboratories to strengthen regional action against drug cartels.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
He said the training, which took place in Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire, from March 27 to 29, involved six other West African countries: Republic of Benin, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia, the Gambia, Cote D’Ivoire and Nigeria.
Babafemi said the training was part of an ECOWAS project known as “Organised Crime: West African Response to Trafficking” (OCWART), co-funded by the European Union (EU) and German Federal Foreign Office.
He said the project was executed primarily by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
He also said as the lead agency at the workshop, NDLEA drew from its experiential knowledge acquired from the dismantling of 21 secret laboratories found in Nigeria since 2011.
This he said was, however, used to teach other West African countries the practical know-how of handling illicit laboratories.
According to him, a total of eight topical lectures, practicals and question and answer sessions were delivered in two days by a team of NDLEA facilitators.
“They include: Joseph Nbona (Director, Prosecutions and Legal Services), Margaret Ogundipe (Director, Forensic and Chemical Monitoring); Adebowale Rahman (Digital Intelligence specialist), Anebi Ajilima (Forensic and crime lab expert) and Felix Tagbo (Operation specialist).
“The first two days of the workshop dwelt on various perspectives on the subject matter, including the anatomy of a clandestine laboratory, basic clandestine lab investigation techniques and intelligence gathering, operations safety.
“Also included were guidelines for dismantling clandestine laboratories, clean-up and decontamination of illicit labs and sites, basics of controlled delivery and prosecuting cases of clandestine laboratories,” he said.
Babafemi said the workshop was wrapped up on the third day with a practical exercise on the dismantling of a mock clandestine laboratory at the Abidjan Police Academy.
This he said was set up by the Nigerian contingent, and the participants, divided into teams, took turns to dismantle and decontaminate.
He added that the workshop’s seven participating countries sent in representatives from relevant organisations, including Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission.
“Also included were Sierra Leone’ Serious Organised Crime and Counter Terrorism Coordination Directorate, Drug Law Enforcement Agency of the Gambia (DLEAG), Transnational Crime Unit of Liberia and the INTERPOL.
“The Republic of Benin was represented by the Organised Crime Fighting Unit (CELCO), Customs and Narcotics Office (OCERTID),
“The host, Côte D’Ivoire, had representatives from Narcotics Squad from Judicial Police (DPSD), Customs, National Gendarmerie, Transnational Crime Unit (TCU), Forensic Police Laboratory and Joint Airport Interdiction Task Force (JAITF),” he said.
Mr Suman Toure, Country Representative of the United Nations on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and its Senior Adviser, Law Enforcement, West and East Africa, described the latitude of the workshop thus: “It is both enforcement and judicial capacity building.
Toure said the project offered technical and equipment support, and facilitated discussion of joint operations among member countries.
“We need regional cooperation to disrupt the transnational criminal organisations’ network,” he said.
Toure said the South-South cooperation that existed among ECOWAS member states since 2014 had helped to disrupt transnational criminal activities over the years.
Similarly, the Minister of Interior and Security for Côte d’Ivoire, Gen. Vagondo Diomande, said the workshop would ensure that law enforcement agencies across the region were equipped with the modern knowledge and equipment to fight transnational organised crime.
Diomande was represented by Mr Kouma Ronsard, Secretary General of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Fight against Drugs.
He underscored the need for cooperation among law enforcement agencies in West Africa, saying that there was need for cooperation, especially bilateral cooperation.
“The new law in Cote D’Ivoire gave it the power to cooperate with states in the fight against drug and human trafficking.
“We need cooperation to break this chain. Cote D’Ivoire has cooperation with Nigeria. No one country can say, ‘there is no drug in my country,’ the reality is, we haven’t seen them and or don’t know yet of the techniques of the criminals,” he said.
Also, Dr. Amado de Andrés, UNODC Regional Representative for West and Central Africa, in his speech before presenting certificates to the participants, said: “All countries in the West Africa region need to cooperate.”
He added that the other countries needed Nigeria more in the participation of conventions against organised crime.
He said the purpose of bringing all the countries together was to break the language barrier.
“In the next five years, we will have to work together, so that your combined expertise can be used to train other regions of the world.
“We are trying to foster South-South cooperation in a way to make it effective as to strengthen security and entrench stability in the region,” he told the participants.
The Rivers State Chief judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi has granted pardon to six inmates standing awaiting trial at the Port Harcourt maximum correctional center.
The six lucky inmates granted pardon on Tuesday by the state Chief Judge included Nwekeala Chizoba, Samuel Emmanuel, Aniete Kelvin, Ebube Fubara and Goddey Okpara who were on awaiting trial as murder suspects and have all spent between 10 years to seven years in the custody without a proper information filed against them in the court.
Justice Amadi during a special gaol delivery exercise last Tuesday at the Port Harcourt Maximum Correctional Centre opined that the special gaol delivery was part of activities lined up to commomerate the 2024/2025 legal year in the State and restated the commitment of the state judiciary in decongesting the correctional centre and ensuring that those inmates who are not supposed to be there are removed from the custody.
The state chief judge stressed the need for all stakeholders to work together to build a society that supports rehabilitation and gives a second chance to anyone or group of people who have fallen short of the expectation of the law and have been punished accordingly.
He stressed that the National Judicial Council(NJC) encourages judges to pay more attention to criminal matters to enable them to decongests the correctional facilities, noting that since his assumption into office, his administration has been able to reduce the number of inmates in Nigerian Correctional Centres and the Port Harcourt Correctional Centre in particular, to less than 2,000 as against the over 4,000 inmates previously in the faculty.
According to him, “as they release the deserving inmates, they affirm their commitment to justice, compassion and rule of law but that they must not forget the fundamental principles of justice delivery system which is truth and fairness, integrity and equality before the law.”
I encourage you all the released inmates to return to your families and become better citizens. You must not engage in action that will return you all back to prison. Let me say that while the judges show empathy to you all, it does not absolved individuals from being held accountable for actions against individuals, corporate organisations and state which the law frowns at, ”he stated
The Chief Judge thereafter stood down the exercise to enable the DPP to intervene to case files following the fact that majority of the persons listed to benefit from the exercise are facing murder charges and adjourned to a date that will come before December.
Earlier in his goodwill message, the outgoing state Comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Centre, Port Harcourt, Felix Lawrence, who was recently promoted to the rank of Assistant Controller General, commended the state judiciary led by Chief Judge, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi for their continuous effort aimed at ensuring justice and decongesting the facilities.
Other activities lined up for the event included special church service at St Paul’s Cathedral , Anglican Communion, Rebisi Port Harcourt, inspection of guard of honour by the state Chief Judge mounted by officers of the Nigerian police and a special court session held at the ceremonial court hall.
By: AkujobiAmadi
The Director General of Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (RBoPP), Dr. Ine Briggs, has explained that the Sir Siminalayi Fubara administration plans to enforce transparency in governance through public procurement.
Speaking at a one-day Public Procurement Enlightenment workshop organised in collaboration with the State Local Government Service Commission for newly elected chairmen, vice chairmen, secretaries and leaders of legislative assemblies, Dr. Briggs said it is key for grassroot development.
She stated that the Sir. Fubara administration plans to reduce wastage and at same time infuse efficiency in public expenditure.
The RSoPP DG said the local government political office holders remain key drivers in the new vision hence the workshop is to arm them with knowledge on how to execute projects in tandem with needs of the people.
“ Your role in the prudent management of public resources is, therefore, not just administrative it’s the cornerstone of delivering the dividends of democracy. Every procurement decision you make must reflect a commitment to fairness, transparency and accountability” Dr. Briggs submitted.
One of the key goals of the administration she further reminded the participants was to use their offices to foster economic growth through public procurement.
She warned that the law establishing the agency empowers it to penalise defaulters, but that what is more important is voluntary compliance to the laws.
In addition to that, she said urged the local government council leaders that champion the practice and implementation of public procurement law.
On his part, Acting Chairman of Local Government Service Commission, Pastor GoodLife Ben Iduoku averred that the aim of the workshop is to arm key stakeholders in the local government system to generate new ideas, innovation and strategies in tandem with government policies and programmes.
The workshop dealt on various topics on procurement planning, methods, Understanding Bid Process, including types of Construction Contracts and law.
Some participants were awarded excellence and meritorious awards as part of the programme.
By: Kevin Nengia
The 19th anniversary of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Rivers State Chapter, recently ended in Port Harcourt in grand style, with participants from various schools including proprietors, the academia, civil society groups and top government functionaries charting the way forward for educational improvement.
The 19th NAPPS anniversary christened, ‘Innovation and Adaptation: Transforming Challenges Into Opportunities’ was held at Casoni Hotels, Port Harcourt.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the Rivers State Chapter of the association, Dr. Jaja Adafe Sunday expressed gratitude to the members and executives for their untiring efforts towards the achievements of the body.
He sought the intervention of government on the lingering crisis on the economy as it is affecting the running of schools.
He decried high cost of things including fuel and raw materials which has adversely affected the running of schools and payment of teachers.
Dr. Sunday hinted that the current economic situation in the nation is biting hard on the operations of schools, saying inflation, removal of fuel subsidy, fuel scarcity, poor electricity supply, tariffs and lack of government grants are some of the challenges faced by schools, and urged the members to brace up to the challenges, as it is the panacea to building a brighter future.
Guest speakers from the health sector and the academia thrilled the gathering on the essence of basic education which they said is the key to national development.
Former Dean of the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Professor Azuru and the Chief Medical Director of Meridian Hospitals, Dr. Odo Iyke were some notable guest speakers who delivered lectures at the occasion.
Some distinguished proprietors also got special recognitions and awards.
The 19th anniversary cake was cut by the Rivers State NAPPS Chairman with representatives of the state government assisting.