The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has rearrested an 83-year-old woman, Uloma Uchechi Sunday, for alleged drug trafficking, barely a year after she was convicted of the same offence, and arrested a South African woman with 32.74kg of cannabis in Rivers State.

The agency also intercepted large consignments of illicit drugs in Lagos, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River and Ondo states, while recovering firearms and ammunition during a raid in Plateau State.

The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

“Her re-arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she runs a notorious drug joint that harbours criminal elements who terrorise the community,” the statement partly read.

The statement recalled that she was first arrested on May 17, 2025, alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, with 50g of methamphetamine, 522g of skunk, 260g of fresh cannabis leaves and 12g of tramadol.

According to the NDLEA, both women pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fines and were released by the court.

“Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters,” the agency added.

In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives, working with the Nigeria Customs Service, arrested a South African woman, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a cannabis strain weighing 32.74kg.

The drugs were concealed in two travelling bags.

“The suspect had travelled from Thailand via Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431. She confessed to having previously trafficked through other African countries, and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught,” the statement read.

At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, operatives intercepted 354,000 tablets of tapentadol, each weighing 250mg, imported from Pakistan.

The 307.20kg consignment was discovered in nine cartons aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight after the shipment was placed under surveillance upon arrival on September 29. A joint examination conducted on October 6 uncovered the drugs.

In a separate operation, the agency intercepted 70 parcels of Colorado, weighing 75.90kg, concealed in six Ghana-Must-Go bags in a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom.

Four suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure. They were identified as a 54-year-old clearing agent, John Edrah; a 54-year-old Uber driver, Taofiq Ajibola; Adetunji Adebayo; and a 48-year-old clothing trader, Kazeem Damola Dosunmu.

According to the statement, Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu said his consignment came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.

In Cross River State, operatives raided Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area on October 4, arresting 46-year-old Adama Inuwa and recovering 181 bags of cannabis weighing 1,100kg, alongside 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.

In Edo State, three suspects — Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal, 40; and Precious Uduegele, 20 — were arrested after operatives intercepted a Toyota Camry conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area.

Another suspect, Ojugo Mercy, 26, was arrested at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, with 989g of Loud, 13g of Colorado and 83g of methamphetamine.

In Ondo State, operatives arrested 21-year-old Happy Endurance in the Shasha area of Akure on October 5, recovering 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg.

A separate raid at Oba-Ile, Akure, led to the arrest of Tunde Adebayo, 42, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351kg.

In Taraba State, two suspects, Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, were arrested at Chanchanji village, Wukari Local Government Area, on October 9, with 166,200 tablets of tramadol weighing 107kg.

Similarly, a stop-and-search operation along the Kano-Maiduguri Road led to the arrest of Yahaya Musa, 32, with 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5.

In Kaduna State, operatives arrested Mohammed Musa, 29, along the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway with 31 jumbo bags and 775 blocks of skunk weighing a combined 1,027kg.

In Lagos, another suspect, Musbau Balogun Adekunle, was arrested in the Orile area on October 6 with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of cannabis seeds.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives recovered firearms and ammunition during a raid on the residence of Christian Chukwudi Uju, 45, at Rukuba Road, Jos, Plateau State, on October 8.

The items recovered included 47g of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.

Babafemi said the agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (retd.), commended the officers for their “professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations”.

He urged them and their colleagues nationwide to “continue with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency”.

Three Nigerian sisters who drowned in the sea off Brighton, southern England, have been ruled to have taken their own lives following an inquest into their deaths.

The sisters, Jane Adetoro, 36, Christina Walters, 32, and Rebecca Walters, 31, lived together in Greenford, west London. They had become increasingly withdrawn following the death of their mother in 2010.

The inquest heard that the sisters visited an area of Birmingham close to where their mother died on May 11 before travelling to Brighton the following day.

According to report, they were later seen on the town’s eastern seafront in the early hours of May 13, when they entered the sea in difficult conditions. None of the sisters could swim.

Their father, Joseph Jacobsen, described the loss of his three daughters as heartbreaking.

Coroner Penelope Schofield said the court could not speculate on the reasons behind the sisters’ actions.

Evidence presented at the inquest showed that a taxi carrying the sisters arrived in Brighton at 10.21pm on May 12. The driver reportedly noticed that they were quiet during the journey.

Closed-circuit television footage later showed the sisters on Brighton’s eastern seafront. They were last seen alive at 2.42am on May 13.

The inquest also heard that police examining Christina’s laptop found 227 references to water and 179 references to suicide. Christina had reportedly experienced anxiety and depression following their mother’s death.

Rebecca’s medical records contained no significant information relevant to the inquest, while Jane was not registered with a doctor.

Toxicology tests found no evidence of drugs or alcohol in the sisters’ systems, and investigators found no evidence of violence.

Jane was brought ashore by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and pronounced dead. Christina was recovered by an RNLI lifeboat, while Rebecca’s body was later washed ashore. Both were pronounced dead by paramedics.

The inquest examined the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the sisters’ movements in the hours before they entered the water.

The Federal Government has evacuated another 111 Nigerians from South Africa amid renewed concerns over xenophobic and Afrophobic attacks, bringing the total number of citizens repatriated under the ongoing exercise to 2,037.

The returnees, comprising 44 men, 23 women and 44 children, arrived in Lagos on Thursday, October 8, aboard South African Airways Flight SA060, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday.

The latest evacuation was funded by the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), through its $265,854 donation to support the return of 500 distressed Nigerians from South Africa.

The returnees were received by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant federal agencies.

In a statement, the ministry’s spokesperson, Oluwafemi Adeniyi, said the latest arrival marked the 15th consular evacuation from South Africa since the exercise began on June 10, 2026.

Of the 2,037 Nigerians evacuated so far, 1,388 had their repatriation costs fully covered by the Federal Government, while 318 have benefited from one-way tickets funded by the RCCG. The church’s donation is expected to cover another 182 Nigerians to complete its commitment to sponsor 500 returnees.

The government expressed appreciation to the RCCG, led by its General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, for supporting the evacuation of distressed citizens.

It also reaffirmed its commitment to engaging South African authorities and other stakeholders to address xenophobia and Afrophobia and safeguard the welfare, safety and dignity of Nigerians living in the country.

The ministry urged Nigerians remaining in South Africa to obey local laws, remain vigilant and prioritise their safety. It advised them to maintain contact with the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria and the Consulate General in Johannesburg for assistance when necessary.

The latest evacuation comes amid heightened anti-migrant tensions in South Africa, where recent anti-immigrant protests and violence have raised fresh concerns about the safety of foreign nationals. Reuters reported that violence in Johannesburg and Durban included the burning of vehicles and looting of foreign-owned shops.

The Federal Government said it would continue providing consular assistance to Nigerians abroad and working with relevant authorities to protect their welfare.