The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has reopened Runway 18L at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA).

A statement signed by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, FAAN, Mrs. Obiageli Orah Director, on Sunday afternoon, said flight operations can now commence on the runway.

The runway was closed on Saturday, after an aircraft belonging to XeJet Airline with registration number 5N-BZZ, which departed Abuja for Lagos, skidded off the runway and landed on the grass at the MMA.

52 passengers and three crew members were on board the aircraft when the incident occurred.

FAAN, however, said: “There were no casualties as a result of the incident. FAAN remains committed to providing seamless service to the Nigerian public.

At Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos state, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, reported the interception of three trailer loads of opioids. The seizure included a total of 3,450,000 pills and 344,000 bottles of codeine syrup.


According to the agency, the valuable consignments, worth billions of Naira, were found in two 40-ft container trucks and another 20-ft truck at the AML bonded terminal, Abule-Osun. They were en route to a large warehouse at Abule-Ado where the suspects were apprehended by NDLEA officers on Thursday, May 9, 2024.


Three suspects were taken into custody in connection with the operation. Among those arrested were Cosmas Obiajulu, 51, the warehouse agent, Ridwan Balogun, 25, Banjo Tayo, 30, who were drivers of two trucks, while a third driver managed to flee the scene.


These events were disclosed in a statement released by Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, on Sunday.

Additionally, Babafemi mentioned the arrest of a suspect named Nwankwo Ejike in the Coker area of Lagos, where 100 liters of codeine syrup were confiscated. On the same day, 60 liters of the same substance were seized from Clinton Akinye in the same vicinity.


Furthermore, NDLEA operatives intercepted 37.5kg of cannabis sativa being transported in a Toyota Camry car driven by a suspect named Adegbola Segun at the Mile 12 area of Lagos on Monday.

The spokesperson also informed about another interception of opioids, including 59,106 pills of tramadol and various quantities of codeine syrup and Rohypnol. This interception took place as the drugs were being smuggled across the border to Garua, Cameroon. NDLEA officers halted this operation on Monday, May 6, along the Mubi-Yola road in Adamawa state.


Abubakar Auwal, 39, and Adamu Abubakar, 25 (alias Bamanga), the two suspects involved in this trans-border trafficking, were promptly apprehended by the authorities.

Additionally, NDLEA operatives conducted a raid at the Iguiye forest in Ovia North East LGA of Edo state, where 11,636.185kg of cannabis were destroyed across three farms spanning 4.654474 hectares. During the operation, an additional 188kg of the same psychoactive substance was uncovered, and a suspect named Itah Nyong was arrested.


In separate raids, a 75-year-old man named Jibril Audu was arrested with 7.5 kilograms of cannabis in Oke-asa village, Ijero-Ekiti, Ekiti state, and a 70-year-old woman, Tikwase Nytor, was caught with 15.6kg of the same substance during a raid operation at Achusa and International Market road, Makurdi, Benue state.

Following these successful operations, the Chairman of NDLEA, Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended the commendable efforts of the Lagos, Edo, Ekiti, Benue, and Adamawa Commands of the Agency during the past week.


Marwa ensured that the agency’s officers and personnel will continue collaborating with local and international partners to combat substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking, reducing their impact in Nigeria.

Reactions have continued to trail the 10th edition of the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards, AMVCA, which was held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, on Saturday.

Funke Akindele’s record-breaking film, ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ snub has emerged as the biggest talking point from the event.

Recall that ‘Breath Of Life’ was the biggest winner of the night, snagging six awards, including Best Movie, Best Sound Design, Best Director (BB Sasore), Best Lead Actor (Wale Ojo), Best Supporting Actor (Ademola Adedoyin), Best Supporting Actress (Genoveva Umeh), and Trailblazer (Chimezie Imo).

‘A Tribe Called Judah’ on the other hand, lost all five nominations despite becoming the first Nigerian movie to gross over N1 billion in cinema last December.

As expected, the snub of Nigeria’s highest-grossing film has sparked a social media firestorm.

@abazwhylllz wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah is my own movie of the year. Keep your head high Funke Akindele.”

@EObaniyi opined, “Award or not, Funke Akindele is the best in the game.”

@PoojaMedia wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah didn’t win any award. Wow”

@Wizkidfc wrote, “A Tribe Called Judah is my own Best Movie. Funke Akindele take your flowers.”

@Lil_maamiii stated, “I don’t want to hear anything like Funke Akindele was robbed oo, when she bagged all the awards with ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’, nobody remembered robbery oo, so please let ‘Breath Of Life’ breathe.”

@EngOguns wrote, “I’m not even that mad that A Tribe Called Judah was snubbed in all categories. I’m livid because not once did they mention the 1B milestone.. It’s obvious that #AMVCA10 no longer f*ck with Funke Akindele.”

@PureMind_ asserted, “The money Funke Akindele made from ‘A Tribe called Judah’ must have rattled a lot of people for this level of hate.”

@Ifeobayeji wrote, “Anyway, Kehinde had a better performance than Funke if we compare both movies [‘Adire’ and ‘A Tribe Called Judah’]. But how ‘Breath of Life’ won best movie over ATCJ [‘A Tribe Called Judah’] is shocking.”

@Kumms argued, “‘Breath of Life’ is a better movie than ‘A Tribe Called Judah’ on every metric.”

@MissyKobell opined, “‘A Tribe Called Judah’ is better than ‘Adire’ sha… You can’t beat Funke Akindele in a category if we are being honest.”

@tianaadebayo wrote, “‘A Tribe Called Judah’ by Funke Akindele gave us what we have always known in a different way but ‘Breath Of Life’ storyline was awesome.. it’s a well deserved win for ‘Breath Of Life’ and that doesn’t mean that Funke Akindele isn’t a winner.. she is now and always.”

@The_Bolutife wrote, “Second year that Funke Akindele’s blockbuster movie didn’t win any awards. Something is fishing