Director General of the Institute of Security and Forensic Studies Nigeria, Ambassador Dr. Morgan Okocha, has underscored the transformative impact of forensic science in strengthening Nigeria’s justice system and security apparatus.

He noted this recently in Abuja at the Focus Africa Leaders Forum and Awards, aimed at rethinking the continent’s economic strategy in a shifting global landscape

He emphasized that integrating forensic science into criminal investigations significantly improves the reliability and efficiency of evidence gathering and prosecution.

Dr. Okocha highlighted the recent implementation of the Evidence Act (Amendment Act) 2023 as a landmark achievement for Nigeria’s legal framework. He noted that the new law, which allows for the admissibility of digital evidence such as electronic records and signatures, brings Nigeria in line with modern investigative standards.

He also advocated for continued legal reforms and enhanced training for law enforcement officers, stressing that strategic security policies and specialized skill development are critical to overcoming emerging threats. According to him, “We have trained thousands of security personnel through our organization, Security and Forensic Studies Nigeria (SFSN), and this has greatly improved the effectiveness of criminal investigations nationwide.”

Dr. Okocha further explained that the integration of forensic science and strategic reforms holds immense promise for revamping Nigeria’s security framework. He said this combination will enable the country to address security challenges with more precision and accountability.

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the forum, Dr. Okocha, reiterated the importance of forensic science in promoting peace and justice. He noted that his organization has trained over 10,000 security personnel, which has led to significant advancements in criminal investigations across Nigeria and other African nations.

He concluded by expressing optimism that with continued investment in forensic capacity and legal modernization, Nigeria’s security infrastructure can evolve into a more proactive, credible, and resilient system capable of delivering justice and protecting lives.

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on Tuesday raided Utako Market in Abuja, sealing several shops over alleged deceptive sales of local rice re-bagged and sold as popular foreign brands.

The operation, which was carried out with the support of police officers and other security personnel, targeted traders allegedly involved in passing off locally produced rice as imported varieties such as Royal Stallion and Mama Gold.

According to FCCPC officials, intelligence gathered indicated that these brands have not been imported into Nigeria since 2015.

More than five large shops stocked with different brands of rice were sealed during the raid, with owners directed to report to the FCCPC headquarters for further investigation.

Speaking to the press during the raid, Director of Surveillance and Investigation at FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka revealed that the commission received credible intelligence indicating a widespread trend of rebranding local rice as foreign.

She explained that the practice was exploitative and misleading to consumers who prefer imported rice.

“The commission has resolved to carry out this ongoing operation to confirm and validate reports that local rice is being packaged as imported rice.
“That is exploitative. That is against consumer economic interests,” she said.

Adeyinka added that the rice bags bore branding of companies that had ceased exports to Nigeria nearly a decade ago.

“They are not imported. They are not from Thailand. In fact, for Mama Gold, all exports ceased as far back as 2015.

“This is 2025, and yet these brands still flood the market,” she said.

She noted that the FCCPC would follow due process to identify those behind the fraudulent packaging and would confiscate the implicated products.

Adeyinka warned that the commission would impose administrative penalties and fines on violators, adding that refusal to cooperate with investigators could result in prosecution.

She assured consumers that the FCCPC will continue its efforts to rid the market of deceptive practices and protect buyers from exploitation.

“We will follow the trail to identify those producing and branding local rice with foreign labels.

“The brand owners have already publicly announced they are no longer distributing in Nigeria. However, due to brand recognition, these cartels continue to exploit consumers,” she said.

Reacting to the development, Igwenma Alex, secretary of the Utako Market Shop Ownership/Traders Association, argued that traders were not informed about the ban on foreign rice brands.

“When something is banned, shouldn’t awareness be created for Nigerians? Even when you ban something, it’s not just about the traders—you’re protecting the entire nation,” he said.

One trader, whose shop was among those sealed, told reporters he was unaware the brands had been banned or were no longer imported.

He explained that he sourced his goods from Kaduna and Kano and would not have bought the rice if he had known it was counterfeit.

He said, “If I knew those products were banned or are no longer in the market, I would not have bought it. I buy my goods from Kaduna road and Kano.”

The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, has alleged that the New Nigeria Peoples Party is ‘dead’.

He also claimed that the NNPP leader, former Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, would join the ruling party.

Ganduje said this in Abuja on Tuesday during a courtesy visit by the Tinubu Support Group to the APC national secretariat, adding that his leadership is open to welcoming Kwankwaso back into the party.

The APC national chairman noted that the ruling party has been welcoming prominent politicians and lawmakers from across the country.

Ganduje also asserted that the so-called coalition against Tinubu ahead of 2027 will soon fall apart, with its leaders eventually returning to the APC.

He stated, “The NNPP is dead. And it will soon be buried very, very soon. I’m hoping that where we will put the dead body, the coffin has already been constructed.

“What remains now is to dig the grave. And already they are digging the grave very, very soon.

“Even like that, the so-called NNPP national leader, he too, he says after losing everyone, he wants to come back to us, we will welcome him, because he’s coming back home.”

Nigeria controversial singer, Badmus Okikiola popularly called Portable, on Tuesday, escaped re-arrest over another petition against him.

Portable regained freedom after veteran fuji musician, Okunola Saheed, popularly called Osupa, withdrew his petition.

Osupa had petitioned the police accusing Portable of criminal defamation, criminal intimidation, inciting public disturbance and cyberstalking.

Acting on Osupa’s petition, the Kwara State Police command had on Monday dragged Portable before a Kwara State Upper Area Court in Ilorin.

Potable was arraigned for offences deemed contrary and punishable under Section 392 (Criminal Defamation), Section 114 (Inciting Disturbance), Section 397 (Criminal Intimidation) of the Penal Code and Sections 24(1)(b) and 24(2)(c) of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015, as well as Sections 10 and 13 of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law, 2020.

The petition held that Portable, during a live Instagram broadcast on March 19, 2025, made defamatory remarks against Osupa, accusing him of jealousy and attempts to sabotage his career.

The presiding magistrate, Sunday Adeniyi had admitted Portable to bail in the sum of N1m and 2 sureties out of which one of them must be chairman of the Performing Musician Association of Nigeria while the other must own landed property in the Government Reserve Area within the jurisdiction of the Court.

Portable was unable to perfect his bail condition on Monday and was remanded at the federal correctional facility, Oke Kura, Ilorin.

However, respite came the way of Portable on Tuesday when Osupa, through his solicitor, Opalekunde Ahmed filed for withdrawal of the case.

Speaking with The PUNCH, on Wednesday, Osupa’s solicitor said his client mandated him to withdraw the case following intervention, and pleas from notable stakeholders.

He said Osupa was resorting to settling the case with Portable out of court.

The withdrawal letter, however, conveyed Osupa’s warning that Portable desists from further publications, or utterances disparaging his person.

The withdrawal letter read, “It’s our client’s (nominal complainant) instruction that the stakeholders in the music industry and other notable personalities in the society have intervened in the matter and pleaded to the nominal complainant to withdraw the case against the defendant in the interest of public peace.

“Further, sir, we want to pray the court to admonish and warn the defendant to desist from any further publications, utterances and any other acts aiming at disparaging the person and businesses of the nominal complainant.”

Similarly, Osupa’s lawyer, Abdulqadir Ajasa confirmed that Osupa decided to withdraw the case following the intervention of some well-to-do members of the society pleading with Saheed to withdraw the case against the controversial singer.

The PUNCH correspondent gathered that Portable was released and left Ilorin, Kwara state, Tuesday afternoon.

But, Osupa also prevented Portable from being re-arrested by Managing Director of Starwood Hotels, Ilorin after allegedly collecting the sum of N6.3m for a show that he did not perform.

In the new development, Managing Director of the hotel, Mr Yemi George, said on Tuesday that Osupa prevailed on him not to re-arrest Portable after collecting the sum of N6.3m for a show that he did not perform.

“I have obtained every necessary document to re-arrest him today (Tuesday) to refund my money but out of respect for the legendary fuji musician (Osupa) who prevailed on me not to.

“My company, Starwood Hotels O2 Arena in collaboration with the leadership of the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria put an event together for Portable to perform but he never did,” George said.

According to a document titled Petition for fraudulent and obtaining by false pretence the sum of N6.3m, the petitioners said they entered agreement with Portable on July 22, 2024, which he never respected.

According to the petition, Portable was paid N6.3m to perform at the ‘Kwara Tampan Fiesta’ on September 29, 2024, but failed to appear on stage at the agreed-upon time.

Despite arriving over 16 hours late, he allegedly sneaked out of his hotel lodge without fulfilling his promise to perform.

The petitioners claim that Portable’s actions caused significant financial loss and distress, and they are seeking a thorough investigation, prosecution and restitution of the N6,300,000 allegedly obtained through fraudulent means.

The petition was signed by Chief Olu Amusan, Governor, TAMPAN and Ayodele Demokun on behalf of Starwood Hotels 02 Arena.

Meanwhile, Portable has had a history of being arrested and subsequently released.

In February, Portable was declared wanted by the Ogun State Police Command after he and his associates allegedly attacked government officials from the Ogun State Planning and Development Permit Authority at his bar in Iyana Ilogbo. The officials had visited to enforce regulatory compliance when the singer and his crew allegedly beat them up and vandalized their equipment.

Nine of his associates were arrested and arraigned in court, but Portable himself allegedly went into hiding and remained at large until February 19, 2025, when he turned himself in to the police in Lagos State.

In May 2024, Portable, became a trending topic after being arrested on May 14, 2024, over a debt he incurred after buying a N27 million G-Wagon from a car dealer.

Videos circulating across social media platforms show Portable being spoken to by policemen who read his warrant out to him, right before he swiftly leapt over a gate and ran away. The second video showed the moment he resisted after being apprehended by the policemen who carried him to the patrol vehicle.

In March 2023, Portable was arrested on March 31, 2023, after ignoring a 72-hour ultimatum given by the Ogun State Police Command to turn himself in. This followed allegations that he assaulted a man at his bar, Odogwu Bar, in Ogun State. After spending the weekend in custody, he was arraigned in court and granted bail.

THE ban on Tell Your Papa, a song by Eedris Abdulkareem, by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission indicates that Nigeria may be returning to the dark ages of military juntas. It is a needless provocation at a time of economic distress.

Describing it as “inappropriate and objectionable” and in breach of public decency, NBC hinged the hammer on Section 3.1.8 of the broadcasting code and labelled it ‘Not to Be Broadcast’. The ban is laughable. It exposes the institution to ridicule. It should reverse its decision.

Tell Your Papa is a work of art, a creative response to the boast made by President Bola Tinubu’s son, Seyi. In March, Seyi told youths in Adamawa State: “My father is the greatest president Nigeria ever had.” For a president under two years in office, this is flat-out nonsense.

In response to Seyi’s arrogance, Eedris’ protest song has begun to resonate with many Nigerians because it hits the nail on the head. The citizens are hungry and unsafe, the cost of living is unbearable, and government officials continue to waddle in opulence and corruption at the expense of the taxpayers.
This resounding truth is verifiable. There is nothing vulgar about Eedris’ song.

While the government tries to silence the song with a sledgehammer, it has buoyed it to the limelight.

This is a replay of history. In 2012, President Olusegun Obasanjo banned Eedris’ song, Nigeria Jaga-Jaga. Instead of dying down, the ban gave it popularity. The Tinubu administration has failed to learn lessons from that episode.

NBC has failed to explicate how the song was ‘objectionable.’ To the public, the song is neither vulgar nor distasteful. It is the direct opposite of the ribald songs on the airwaves, many of which are sexist, and promote crime, ritual killing and disagreeable cultural values.

In 2020, NBC fined Channels Television, Arise TV, and AIT N3 million each for “unethical coverage” of the #EndSARS protests without justification.

Although the intention behind setting up NBC is good, it has failed to carry out its role with transparency.

Unfortunately, MDAs want to please the government in power. Their allegiance to the state beclouds their judgement. This is an indication of weak government institutions.

Therefore, institutions should be recalibrated structurally and systematically to serve the people, not the government in power.

Eedris has a constitutional right to freedom of speech. This law supersedes and displaces the NBC codes.

Eedris addresses Seyi, who has assumed a larger-than-life role in the Presidency without any official designation.

It appears that the Tinubu government misconstrues citizens’ criticism as malice, disrespect, libel, or treason. This is a misnomer. Criticism is part of governance, and it is the civic duty of citizens to comment on issues that affect their lives.

While the right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution and established by the courts, the security agencies are quick to brutalise activists, journalists, and citizens.

Sadly, they fail to deploy the same rigour and intelligence in clamping down on terrorism, criminality and violent Fulani herdsmen rapine plaguing the country.

Recently, a youth corps member was threatened for complaining about the high cost of living and her paltry allowance. A lady in Sokoto was sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane for complaining about the insecurity in the state.

The Nigerian Bar Association and other professional groups must be firm in asserting the rights of citizens. The media and civil society organisations must not relent in pushing back the shadow of tyranny that continues to rear its head. It must resist the Cybercrime Act.

The media needs to lend a voice to those clamouring for positive change in the country.

As Fela Anikulapo-Kuti did, Nigerian musicians should engage the government and public with more politically conscious music.