The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated suspected counterfeit cosmetics and other regulated products during an enforcement operation at Igbudu Market in Warri, Delta State.

The agency said the operation followed reports about the widespread of counterfeit products in the market.

In a statement issued at the weekend ,NAFDAC said officers from its Asaba Zonal Office led the operation, with support from the Department of State Services (DSS), the Nigerian Army and the market union.

The team visited identified shops and locations, where suspected counterfeit products were discovered and evacuated.

Among the seized items were cosmetics bearing the brand names of Listerine and Nivea.

NAFDAC also warned the public against purchasing KY Jelly lubricant currently in circulation, saying the product’s marketing authorisation holders confirmed that the last authorised supply was made over five years ago.

“According to the product’s Marketing Authorisation Holders, the last authorised supply was over five years ago; therefore, any such product currently found in the market should be treated as suspect,” the agency said.

The agency dismissed social media reports claiming its officers were attacked or chased out of the market during the operation.

It said the exercise was successfully completed, with officers accessing all identified locations and evacuating the offending products.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman for allegedly attempting to smuggle 1.15 kilogrammes of cocaine out of Nigeria.

The consigment was reportedly concealed in her underwear.

The suspect, identified as Farida Nansubuga, was arrested on November 3 at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, while preparing to board a flight to Uganda.

In a statement on Sunday, Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesperson, said the woman was intercepted during a joint passenger screening exercise involving agency operatives and aviation security personnel at terminal 2 of the airport.

A search conducted on her led to the discovery of 87 wraps of cocaine, strapped round her pelvic region and concealed beneath two layers of underwear.

Babafemi said preliminary investigations revealed that Nansubuga arrived in Nigeria on October 29 with members of her church for a prayer session at the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in the Ikotun-Egbe area of Lagos.

He said other members of her delegation had returned to Uganda after the religious gathering, but the suspect remained in Nigeria to collect the drug consignment for a friend identified as Joy, who lives in Uganda.

According to the agency, Nansubuga claimed that her contact in Nigeria arranged a vehicle to take her to a hotel on the morning of her departure, where a man handed her the cocaine and instructed her to conceal it beneath her clothing.

She reportedly expected to receive at least $1,000 after successfully delivering the drugs.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, weighing 526kg and valued at N900 million.

The consignment, which arrived from Ahmedabad, India, aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight on November 3, was declared as Paracetamol 500mg.

The agency said officers placed the shipment under surveillance after becoming suspicious of its declaration.

A joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on November 6 revealed that 10 of the 11 cartons contained the opioid tablets, while the remaining carton held paracetamol.

The agency also intercepted 32 parcels of loud, a cannabis strain, weighing 16.15kg and concealed inside two wooden sofas in a consolidated cargo from Houston, United States.

The consignment arrived aboard a Turkish Airlines flight on November 4. A freight agent, Ibrahim Abdulwaheed Adewale, was arrested while attempting to clear it.

A follow-up operation on November 6 led to the arrest of Adeoye Sarafa Ojo, a 34-year-old caterer from Ibadan, who allegedly came to collect the package.

The NDLEA also reported intercepting illicit drugs destined for the United Kingdom and Australia, including 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2kg, 296 tablets of Swinol and several shipments of tramadol concealed in vitamin C containers and female headwear.

In other operations across the country, the agency recovered large quantities of cannabis, opioids and other illicit substances in Lagos, Ondo, Ekiti, Edo, Taraba, Enugu and Delta states.

Windows were ​blown out across several floors of Saudi oil giant Aramco’s corporate office in the heart of the ‌financial district of the capital Riyadh on Sunday by what the energy ministry said was debris from an attempt to attack the building.

The ministry said damage to the Aramco Tower was limited and there were no injuries or fatalities, without assigning responsibility for the attack.

The Saudi-led coalition fighting ​Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen said Saudi air defences had intercepted Houthi missiles over the city in the early hours.

The ​Houthis, who claimed the attack, have escalated their fighting with the kingdom in what has become another ⁠front in the wider US-Israeli war against Tehran.

Many schools in the kingdom resumed in-person classes on Sunday after weeks of home ​learning and several Saudi government agencies returned to in-office work suspended after earlier Houthi attacks.
The Houthis have ramped up strikes on Aramco (2223.SE), opens new tab facilities ​in recent weeks, including the oil giant’s headquarters in Dhahran in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi-led coalition said air defences also intercepted a Houthi missile on Sunday in the province, where most of the oil and gas reserves of the world’s largest crude exporter lie. It said they ​had also destroyed two ballistic missile launchers in Saada used by the Houthis in the Sunday attack on Riyadh.

The renewed fighting between the Houthis and the coalition backing Yemen’s internationally recognised government intensified after the group advanced in September toward the Bab ‌el-Mandeb Strait, ⁠a strategic shipping chokepoint on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula from the Strait of Hormuz.

The Houthis have since stepped up missile and drone attacks on Saudi ports and airports, including Riyadh’s international airport. The group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the airport was targeted in Sunday’s attacks, but there was no confirmation from Saudi authorities.
A strike on the airport in October killed 13 people ​and wounded more than 300.
In ​response to the attacks, Saudi ⁠Arabia has been carrying out air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The latest escalation comes a day after Yemen’s Houthi-run health ministry said Saudi airstrikes killed at least 33 people near Sanaa. ​Saudi authorities said they were investigating.

The kingdom, a key US ally, has also been requesting ​assistance from countries ⁠ranging from the US to Europe and the Middle East, for both defensive and offensive support against the Yemeni group.
Britain said in October it would fly fighter jets on defensive missions to help protect Saudi cities from Houthi aerial attacks.