A new report launched yesterday by the International Narcotics Control Board, INCB, has shown a disproportionate rise in drug overdoses among females even as it showed that a total of $1.25 billion illicit drugs are trafficked in West Africa countries.

The on-going protest by members of the Osun state branch of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, which enters its forth day yesterday took a new turn when the Chief Judge of the State, Justice Adepele Ojo was barred from entering the premises of the State High Court by lawyers who were protesting the recent increment in fees paid for filling suits in the state judiciary.

THE Minister of Communications, Abdul Kareem Adebayo Shittu, has Nigeria and other countries in Africa were backward in ICT development because they were just warming up, still learning the ropes.

AS the activities marking the first coronation anniversary of the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji continued yesterday, the monarch was awarded the UN Ambassador of Nigeria Goes Green.

GOVERNOR Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has warned the warring Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja communities to stay clear of the disputed area, insisting that government will not shy from taking decisions that may not be palatable if the need arose.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has commended the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of EVOMEC Global Services Limited, Chief Peter Esievo, for donating N10 million to address the electricity problem facing Agbon communities of Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state in the last two years.

Leaders from Urhobo oil and gas producing communities in Delta State, have condemned alleged attempts to blackmail the Group General Manager, GGM, of National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS, Mr. Dafe Sejebor, saying such claims were baseless.

Bayelsa State Government, yesterday, said it would complete the repayment of the N50 billion bond loan inherited from the previous administration in 2019, following the successful renegotiation of the facility.

Deghele community in Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State has sworn-in a nine-man executive with three ex-officio members to pilot the affairs of the oil-rich community for the next three years.

THE publisher of an Ughelli-based tabloid, Ughelli Times Magazine, Daniel Ekuigbo, has regained his freedom four months after he was arrested in Ughelli and whisked away to Asaba by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.

IN September 2008, about nine years ago, this writer published an article title “If Yar’Adua Doesn’t Die!” (http://yashuaib.com/politics/if-president-yaradua-doesnt-die/) It was a response to strong insinuations in the media on the plight of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who was alive then but some commentators were already expressing views on expectations after his likely demise.

A recent report by the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS) and the Joint Tax Board (JTB) revealed that only 40 super-rich Nigerians pay correct taxes on their incomes. The report, apart from being incomplete, merely revealed the extent to which governments of Nigeria (both federal and the states), the FIRS and the JTB have failed Nigerians over the years

WINNER of Face of CandyCity Nigeria 2016, Nneke Somto, is not planning to bid farewell to modelling after the expiration of her reign.

DARING former Big Brother Naija housemate, Cocoice, has tendered an unreserved apology to Mavin Boss, Don Jazzy, for publicly exposing her breast while she lasted in the ongoing reality TV show.

A LAGOS Island Customary Court, yesterday, put an end to the long unsavoury marriage of Nollywood actor, Emeka Ike and his wife, Suzanne Emma, as it ordered the estranged lovers to go their separate ways.