Video - Nigeria's senior women's team gears up for AWCON qualifier against Gambia

Nigeria's senior women football team, the Super Falcons, have commenced preparations for the 2018 African Women Cup of Nations qualifiers against The Gambia. The two-leg fixture will take place between 4th - 12th June, with the Gambians hosting the opening leg in capital Banjul while Nigeria will host the return leg in Calabar - in the South East.

Video - Nigeria's Inspector General of Police struggles to read own speech

The Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, on Monday in Kano, inaugurated a Technical Intelligence Unit at the Kano State Command as part of renewed effort to curb crimes in the country.
Speaking at the occasion, Idris said that the facility, code named ‘COBWEB Solutions Intelligence Platform’ was established to enhance the Nigeria Police capacity for effective and responsiveness in the art of policing.

He said: “We are going to train our officers in the area of technical intelligence to enhance their capacity to address the intelligence challenges we are having in the country.
“The TIU in Kano for North West Zone, will aid police efficiency, effectiveness and their capacity to detect crime.”

Idris called on police commands in the zone to utilize the opportunity provided by the four technical intelligence platforms in Abuja, Lagos, Owerri and Kano to boost policing.
He said: “I will not relent on my efforts to ensure that the challenges of crime faced in the country, be it kidnapping, armed robbery, militancy and terrorism among others will soon be resolved with the use of TIU.

“The technical intelligence unit in line with international best practices will link all state police commands with technical intelligence COBWEB platform as soon as funds are made available.”
Idris said that the fight against insurgency, kidnapping, armed robbery, cattle rustling and other heinous crimes had systematically been won by 70 per cent.

He said that thousands of arms and ammunition have been recovered therefore making it difficult for criminals to access illegal arms for their criminal activities.

Idris said: “These achievements would not have been possible without the use of technical intelligence unit in Abuja managed by the Special Intelligence and Tactical Response teams.

“I have kept faith with the promise despite efforts at various quarters to distract me. Nigeria Police have recorded breakthroughs in crime prevention, detection, and prosecution among others.”

The IG assured Nigerians that the Police was doing everything possible to protect lives and properties in the country.

He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Police saying they are doing everything possible to tackle the challenges.

Speaking, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State command, Rabiu Yusuf, commended the Inspector General of Police for making the command one of the pilot states for the project.

He said the unit was saddled with the responsibilities of detecting and tracking down hoodlums as well as unfolding their heinous agenda.

Yusuf said: “The tracking system will reduce crime and criminality in the state, with a view to boosting economic activities.

In his remarks, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Usman Alhaji, expressed gratitude to the IGP for establishing the facility in Kano.

Ganduje said that establishing the unit in Kano, which is a mega city, would improve commercial activities and reduce the rate of crime in the state.

The Eagle

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Video - Nigeria Trade Minister Says Corruption Fight a 'Top Priority'

Nigeria Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Okechukw Enelamah discusses investment opportunities and efforts to reduce corruption in his country. He speaks with Bloomberg's Shery Ahn and David Westin on "Bloomberg Markets: Balance of Power."

Young Nigerians turning to drugs

A growing number of young Nigerians are addicted to drugs, officials and police say, turning to cheap narcotics like codeine, tramadol, and other chemical substances in search of a high.

The government this month have banned the production of codeine-based cough syrup and, in the wake of a recent BBC investigation, temporarily shuttered three pharmaceutical firms for allegedly failing to cooperate with federal inspectors. 

Now, drug-reform policy advocates, such as RISE Nigeria's Adeolu Ogunrombi, fear the problem will worsen and are pushing authorities to be more proactive about tackling corruption and closing loopholes they say still exist in the public health system. 

"There is still a huge demand, and a criminal market is going to spring up to meet the needs of the users who are in need of the substances", he said. "We don't even consider that someone who is dependent on drugs is still a human being." 

In this episode, The Stream explores the depth of Nigeria's opioid problem to learn how the government is working to prevent abuse and the distribution of drugs on the black market, and what needs to be done next.

Germany to deport 30,000 Nigerians

Germany has proposed a new process that will facilitate the smooth repatriation of over 30,000 illegal Nigerian migrants back to the country.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama said this when he received the Security Adviser to the President of Germany, Dr Jan Hecker, and his team in Abuja.

The new proposal, according to Onyeama, is predicated on perceived failures and slow pace of the current system of repatriation.

This, he said, involved both the participation of Nigerian embassies and consulate and the German immigration office.

“They don’t have enough faith and confidence in the process that we have at the moment for the repatriation process.

”Some of the delays they believed are with the mission and consulate in Germany.

” They want to propose a completely new process of repatriation, known as Return and Re-admission,” he said.

Onyeama said that in the last two years only about 200 Nigerians had returned to the country out of about 30,000.

”Germans were not happy that the system we have in place at the moment is certainly not working to their satisfaction,” he said.

According to him, the new process essentially entails that once all legal processes have been exhausted, Nigeria should trust them (Germany), to make right decision on whom should be repatriated.

He added that once the decision was taken, Germany would bring the affected persons to Nigeria without the involvement of Nigeria’s mission in Germany.

“They will bring them here to Nigeria and say we have gone through a process in Germany; these people are your nationals, they have exhausted all the legal processes, please take them.

”And it will be here on Nigeria territory that any possibility will then exist to say maybe that one is not or this one is not.

Onyeama, while describing the proposed process as a complete transformation of the current process, noted that Germany aside from issuing travel documents to those to be repatriated, would also be responsible for their travels.

However, for the new process to come into being, Nigeria would have to agree and carry out some changes in her laws.

Earlier, Jan Hecker said he was in Nigeria to see how both countries could intensify their bilateral relations and achieve good result, particularly on migration.

He was accompanied on the visit by the German Ambassador to Nigeria, Bernhard Schlagheck and other officials.

The Nation