By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Burkina Faso has taken a major step towards economic sovereignty by establishing its first-ever gold refinery.

After gaining full control of its gold mining sector, the country now refines its own gold, ensuring that more wealth stays within its borders.

In this historic achievement, Burkina Faso has processed 142 tonnes of mining residues, extracting 93kg of pure gold.

This move has generated 100 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs, boosting local employment and industry growth.

Now refining gold at 99% purity, Burkina Faso earns $1,200 per ounce—far more than the $300 it previously received under French control. This marks a new era of self-reliance and economic transformation for the nation!

#africa #BurkinaFaso #EconomicFreedom #Gold

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A six-year-old girl, Ella, shot a 28-year-old American police officer last month after seiing her mother being restrained by law enforcement

The incident occurred when Ella’s mother left her inside the car and went into a supermarket to purchase a 75-inch television.

After completing her purchase, she was stopped at the store’s exit and asked to present her receipt, as per store policy. However, she couldn’t find it despite searching everywhere. She then returned to the cashier who had issued the receipt and asked him to explain to security that she had genuinely bought the television. The cashier confirmed her claim, but a security guard insisted that she must present the receipt before leaving.

Frustrated, the woman attempted to leave but was confronted by the security officer and two police officers, who ordered her not to load the television into her car. She tried to explain the situation, but the officers refused to listen. They forcefully pushed her to the ground, restraining her while she cried out that she couldn’t breathe and insisted that she was not a thief.

At that moment, Ella, still inside the car, saw her mother struggling and gasping for air. Fearing for her mother’s life, she searched for her mother’s gun, found it, and stepped out of the car.

She pointed the weapon at one of the officers and warned him to release her mother, or she would shoot. The officer, seemingly underestimating the child, ignored her warning and continued restraining her mother. In response, Ella fired multiple shots at his face, killing him instantly. She then dropped the gun, raised her hands in surrender, and stood still as her mother regained consciousness.

The second officer, a female, immediately arrested both Ella and her mother and called for backup. They were taken into custody.

After an investigation, police reviewed CCTV footage from the supermarket, which confirm

… seizes 5.40kg cocaine going to Owerri; intercepts another shipment concealed in motor parts heading to Angola; 128 parcels of Canadian Loud hidden in matrasses at Tincan; destroys 52,459kg skunk in Delta, Edo forests

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a 42-year-old Angolan businessman Mbala Dajou Abuba at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano for attempting to traffic a large consignment of cocaine, which he ingested, to Istanbul Turkey.

Abuba who is from the Zaire province in Angola was arrested on Tuesday 25th February 2025 at the screening point of the Kano airport while trying to board Egypt Air flight MS 880 to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo. After his body scan result confirmed he ingested illicit drug, he was thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled 120 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.829 kilograms in seven excretions. In his statement, the suspect claimed he was into the business of township delivery services in Angola before delving into the illicit drug trade.

A similar attempt by an auto spare parts dealer, Okeke Ebuka Igwe, to send two parcels of 1.10kg cocaine concealed in vehicle propellers to Angola through the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives who arrested him on Monday 24th February following credible intelligence.

During an interview with the suspect, he claimed that he is a businessman selling auto parts in ASPANDA, Trade Fair Complex, Ojo area of Lagos.

The bid by another suspect, Ezechi Iyke Cyprian to move a large consignment of cocaine weighing 5.40 kilograms to Owerri, Imo state in his Toyota Sienna bus on Sunday 23rd February was frustrated by operatives of a special operations unit of NDLEA who arrested him following weeks of intelligence and surveillance.

At the Tincan seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday 28th February discovered a total of 128 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis concealed in two matrasses in the trunk of a Toyota Venza car imported from Canada.

The discovery of the 63.75kg consignment was made during a joint examination of a targeted container marked TCNU 1945861 from Montreal, Canada, by NDLEA, Customs and other security agencies. The consignee of the shipment, 44-year-old Bamidele Joseph has been arrested and taken into custody.

In Delta state, NDLEA operatives supported by the military on Thursday 27th February stormed a forest in Innam-Abbi/Orogun community, Ndokwa West local government area where they destroyed over 50,000kg cannabis on a 20-hectare farm land. Five suspects arrested during the raid include: Augustine Subaru, 45; Ukoba Malachukwu, 53; Odalonu Emmanuel, 40; Esuabom Macaulay, 35; and Itoje Safe, 54.

In another operation in Delta, NDLEA operatives on Friday 28th February intercepted a Mercedes Benz truck marked AWK 791 ZJ along Abraka-Orogun road.

A search of the truck led to the recovery of 101 bags of skunk with a total weight of 1,111kg.
In Edo state, NDLEA officers supported by the military on Saturday 1st March raided the Okpuje community in Owan West LGA where they destroyed over 100 jumbo bags of skunk in warehouses and recovered a total of 1,409.5kg of the psychoactive substance for the prosecution of arrested suspects: Oikelomen Osere Monday, 38 and Glory Iroyo, 42.

While a suspect, Michael Omoloki, 46, was arrested with 58.5 kilograms of skunk at the Ibadan end of the Lagos -Ibadan expressway, Oyo state, operatives in Kwara state on Monday 24th February nabbed a Beninoise Lawali Mohammed with 2,980 tablets of tramadol and dozens of diazepam pills at Eiyenkorin expressway, Ilorin.
In Osun, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Ibadan/ Gbongan expressway on Thursday 27th February intercepted a consignment of 1.05kg skunk concealed in detergent soap and biscuit carton, while Sunday Ogbu, 45, was arrested in connection with the seizure. A suspect Ayuba Mustapha, 30, was arrested at Tsafe, Zamfara state with 24,700 pills of tramadol on Sunday 23rd February.

In Borno state, Mustapha Shettima, 50, was arrested by NDLEA operatives with 31kg skunk, 1,000 pills of tramadol and N720,000 monetary exhibit along Bama road, Maiduguri on Wednesday 26th February, while Adamu Idris, 40, was nabbed along Zaria road, Kano, same day with 140 blocks of cannabis weighing 73.5kg.
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 enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Ansarudeen Junior Secondary School, Ojuelegba, Lagos; Loretto Girls Special Science School, Adazinnukwu, Anambra state and Tudun Murtala Special Primary School, Nasarawa LGA, kano state, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, MAKIA, SOU, Tincan, Delta, Edo, Oyo, Kano, Osun, Borno, Zamfara and Kwara Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.