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Group wants ex-IG Okiro Ohanaeze Ndigbo President

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A socio-cultural group in Rivers State, ‘Ogbako Egbema Alinso,’ has made a case for a former Inspector General of Police, Mike Okiro, to succeed Nze Ozichukwu Chukwu, as the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide.

Chukwu was appointed to complete the tenure of Imo State after the demise of prominent politician and businessman, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, with the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, subsequently disclosing the zoning of the exalted position to Rivers State.

The election for the next President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo is billed to be held between January 10 and 11, 2025.

While there has been support for the former IGP Okiro, to take on the mantle of leadership of the body, there have also been questions surrounding his ethnic qualifications for the role.

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National President-General of Ogbako Egbema Alinso, Francis Igwebuike Ifi, at a press briefing in Egbema in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State on Monday, maintained that Okiro is a bonafide Rivers indigene and enjoys the support of the Egbema people.

Igwebuike Ifi stated, “The insinuation that he’s not from Rivers State is what is doubtful in the minds of people, but today, let it be clear to all and sundry that Sir Mike Mbama Okiro, is an Egbema man from Rivers State.

“This is a social-cultural organization, because of the political divide, we’ve come together to say Egbema is one and we are not bending to any political delineation.

“So, if he aspires to vie for any position in the country, Egbema has asked him today to go ahead. He is qualified for it, he is a Rivers man, let him go ahead and vie for it as a Rivers man.”

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Ifi further said, “Let the people who are making such insinuations (that Okiro) is not from Rivers State), let the people who want to denigrate him, please tow another line.

“When a man is qualified to get one thing, give it to him, don’t look at where he’s from. We assure the country that Sir Okiro is a born Egbema man from Rivers State.”

Earlier in his remarks, a monarch and Nzeobi of Egbema, Rivers State, His Royal Majesty, Eze Everistus Amuda, re-echoed Ifi’s stance, saying, “Dr. Okiro is my a member of my palace. He hails from Nzeobi, he never aspired for any position before he was enrolled in Nzeobi of Egbema and all the enrollment is his first involvement in Egbema.

“He hails from Ogba/Egbema Local Government Area. He is qualified to contest for the position.”

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Meanwhile, the group has called for an end to what it described as incessant extra-judicial killings along the boundary between Egbema in Imo State and Egbema in Rivers State.

Expressing displeasure at the situation, the President-General of the body said, “The very incessant extra judicial killings at the boundary between Egbema Imo and Egbema Rivers is uncalled for. Who are the persons killing these people along Egbema? Just before the TCC or after the TCC, recently a woman, a pregnant young lady, was shot to death.

“With expertise and the position of our national leader, the Ogbako Egbema has condemned such extrajudicial killings in its entirety and we don’t want it to continue unless they don’t want the existence of Egbema people here.

“Whosoever is involved in such extra-judicial killings should stop, before they kill all of us. The killing has become too much. The Egbema people are tired of the extra-judicial killings along that place.”

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Five nabbed for allegedly destroying Tinubu’s posters in Kano

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The Kano State Police Command has arrested five people for allegedly damaging billboards and posters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and other politicians in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, disclosed this while answering questions from journalists on security measures and the enforcement of the ban on public horse-riding in Kano.

Bakori said the suspects were arrested following investigations into the destruction of properties during tensions surrounding horse-riding and public processions in the state.

He said investigations had been concluded and the suspects had been charged to court, adding that the command would continue to take legal action against anyone found to have committed offences capable of threatening public peace.

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The arrests followed a public outing by the Emir of Kano, Aminu Ado Bayero, on Sunday.

The commissioner said reports indicated that some of those accompanying the emir allegedly destroyed posters and billboards belonging to President Tinubu, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf and other politicians.

He said the incident further heightened tensions amid the lingering Kano Emirate dispute.

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Tinubu’s lawyers agree there are errors in U.S. Court filing on 1990s drug probe, demand amendment

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President Bola Tinubu’s legal team has acknowledged factual and drafting errors in an earlier court filing in the United States concerning records of a decades-old narcotics investigation, asking a federal judge for permission to correct the disputed passages while maintaining its original legal arguments.

The development emerged from a motion filed on October 1, 2026, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit instituted by American transparency activist Aaron Greenspan.

The case, Greenspan v. Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys et al., Civil Action No. 23-1816 (BAH), centres on Greenspan’s efforts to compel U.S. government agencies to release records relating to Tinubu and an investigation dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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In the motion titled “Motion to Amend Response Brief [DE 98],” Tinubu’s lawyers asked the court to authorise the replacement of their earlier response to Greenspan’s motion for summary judgment, citing errors in Part 1.c of the original filing.

The legal team admitted that the disputed section contained incorrect references to the year 1993, Tinubu’s public office and a comparison involving student enrolment.

According to the lawyers, their central argument was that the investigative events between 1988 and 1992 occurred decades before Tinubu was elected President of Nigeria.

However, they conceded that the argument had been presented “inadequately and incorrectly” in relation to the references to public office and 1993.

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The lawyers also acknowledged a separate mistake in a comparison between the age of the investigative records and a student-enrolment event, explaining that the enrolment event had actually occurred before the historical events under discussion.

“Both issues occurred during the drafting and revising process by the undersigned counsel, occurred unintendedly, and were not found and edited prior to filing,” the motion stated.

They further disclosed that Greenspan had identified both errors in his subsequent reply to the earlier court submission.

Despite admitting the mistakes, Tinubu’s legal representatives insisted that the corrections would not alter the substance of their defence.

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“In the proposed amended response, the substance of the argument in part 1.c remains unchanged,” they stated.

Their position is that Tinubu’s privacy interests in records concerning events from decades ago should remain protected, notwithstanding his subsequent emergence as Nigeria’s president.

The legal team also informed the court that it had consulted Greenspan and his lawyers about the proposed corrections before submitting the motion.

According to the filing, Greenspan did not oppose the correction of the brief, paving the way for the request to be considered without opposition from the plaintiff.

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Tinubu’s lawyers consequently urged the court to permit the amended response to replace the earlier filing, identified as Document 98. They also submitted a proposed order for the judge’s consideration.

However, the attached order was clearly marked as a proposed document and contained a blank space for the judge’s signature. The filing therefore does not establish that the court had approved the request as of the date of submission.

The amended response also reiterates Tinubu’s opposition to Greenspan’s demand for additional records from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Among other arguments, the President’s lawyers contend that the disputed information is protected under the law-enforcement privacy exemption of the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act.

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They maintain that the records concern events that took place long before Tinubu assumed the presidency and argue that his current position does not automatically extinguish his privacy rights.

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NDLEA intercepts 4.8kg cocaine hidden in shoe soles, travel bags; destroys 20 tonnes of cannabis in Osun, nabs fugitive after six years (Photos)

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 38-year-old businessman, Philip Tunde, attempting to smuggle 4.8 kilogrammes of cocaine to Milan, Italy, with the illicit substance concealed in the soles of shoes and the railings of travel bags.

The arrest was part of a series of nationwide anti-drug operations that also led to the interception of drug consignments worth more than N5 billion at seaports in Lagos and Rivers states, the destruction of over 20 tonnes of cannabis in Osun State and the recovery of various illicit substances across several states.

Tunde was arrested on Sunday, September 27, 2026, at the joint screening point of Terminal 2 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan.

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A detailed search by NDLEA operatives uncovered 16 parcels of cocaine concealed in the soles of eight pairs of trainers and canvas shoes, alongside 195 wraps of the same substance hidden in the railings of four travel bags.

The seized drugs, which tested positive for cocaine, weighed a total of 4.8kg.

During interrogation, the suspect reportedly claimed he had paid N16 million in cash for the cocaine hidden in the shoes. He also disclosed that the consignment concealed in the travel bags was intended for delivery to his business partner in Italy.

Tunde allegedly said he raised the money from compensation he received following an industrial accident at a plastic manufacturing company in Italy, where he lost the tips of two fingers.

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NDLEA intercepts N5bn drug shipments at Lagos, Onne ports

In a major crackdown on international drug trafficking networks, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa, Tincan Island and Onne seaports intercepted multiple consignments of cannabis, codeine-based cough syrup and other illicit substances valued at more than N5 billion.

At the Apapa Port in Lagos, officers acting on intelligence subjected two containers shipped from Bangkok, Thailand, to a 100 per cent physical examination alongside Nigeria Customs Service personnel and other stakeholders.

The operation, which yielded results on September 3, led to the discovery of 161 parcels of Thai Loud, weighing 124kg and valued at N372 million.

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The cannabis was cleverly concealed inside two refrigerators and two cartons.

At the Onne Port in Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working with Customs and other security agencies, searched two containers placed under surveillance following intelligence reports.

The examination uncovered 40 packs of Loud weighing 22kg, hidden in a travel bag and inside three vehicles — a Toyota Matrix, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai Elantra — among five vehicles shipped in one of the containers.

The second container contained 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440kg.

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Investigators discovered that the container had been shipped from India to Saudi Arabia, where its origin history was allegedly altered to evade detection before the consignment was moved onward.

The seized Loud and codeine consignments at Onne were estimated to have a combined street value of N833.2 million.

Meanwhile, another major seizure was recorded at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos on Tuesday, September 29, following a joint examination of a container from Montreal, Canada, which had been placed on the agency’s watch list.

The operation led to the recovery of 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5kg and valued at more than N3.8 billion.

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The cannabis was concealed inside a Toyota Sienna and a Hyundai Elantra, alongside 24 blue drums and six jumbo bags found in the container.

NDLEA destroys 20 tonnes of cannabis in Osun forest

In Osun State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 20,234kg of cannabis, popularly known as skunk, during an operation targeting an extensive cannabis plantation covering 8.0936 hectares in

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