BusinessDay 13 April 2018

24
Muhammed Uba, Controller of Customs, Federal Operation Unit, Zone A, (l), showing to newsmen some of the 6,003 smuggled bags of
foreign rice, equivalent to 10 trailer loads, which were intercepted by the unit in Ikeja, Lagos State. NAN
Oyo to establish gemstone centre
AKINREMI FEYISIPO, Ibadan
Oyo State is establishing
an international gemstone
processing centre and market
where precious stones
would be processed and
polished before shipment to international
markets.
Governor Abiola Ajimobi disclosed
this at a two-day strategic engagement
and sensitisation workshop for stakeholders
in the southwest geo-political
zone, held in Ibadan, Wednesday. He
said with large deposits of high quality
marble and other solid minerals
like aquamarine, tantalite, tourmaline,
granite, talc and the recently discovered
gold deposits in Oyo, the state was establishing
the centre to market the mineral
resources.
Represented by Gbade Ojo, his chief of
staff, Ajimobi said the state was exploring
the benefits in agriculture and solid min-
C’ River CP assures investors of security in CFTZ
MIKE ABANG, Calabar
BUSINESS DAY
CITYFile
The Commissioner of Police (CP)
in charge of Cross River State
Command, Hatiz Mohammed
Inuwa, has assured investors in
the Calabar Free Trade Zone (CFTZ) of
adequate security.
Inuwa gave the assurance when he led
a delegation of top police officers to the
trade zone.
The police boss said the zone which
harbours foreign and local investors, plays
a vital role in stimulating the economy of
the state in particular and the country in
general, saying every was being done to
guarantee the lives of the investors and
their investments.
While calling on the zone management
to corporate with security agencies, he
... decries shortage of police personnel in state
charged officers and men of the command
to ensure regular surveillance in the zone.
He, however, decried inadequate police
personnel in the state and sought the collaboration
of other security agencies in the
deployment of personnel to sensitive areas
to combat crime.
Godwin Ekpe, head, Calabar Free trade
Zone (CFTZ), who represented the managing
director of Nigerian Export Processing
Zones Authority (NEPZA), Emmanuel
Jime, expressed delight for the visit.
EKpe disclosed that the zone has so far
licensed about 77 companies out of which
42 are operational with over 11,000 skilled
and unskilled workers engaged by these
companies.
“The free trade zone scheme has attracted
over 11,000 direct and indirect
employments from inception date and still
erals to wean itself from dependence on
the dwindling oil revenue coming from
the centre.
This, he said, informed the decision
by his administration to establish the
Mineral Development Agency, which
is responsible for the creation of wealth
from mineral resources for the benefit
of the citizens and to attract local and
foreign investors.
Ajimobi said that the government’s
decision to invest in the solid minerals
development sector had caused an increase
in the state’s internally generated
revenue, as well as the collection of 13
per cent derivation from the mineral
resources from the Federal Government.
He said that the effort had also resulted
in the discovery of gold deposits, which
had earned the state a license for the exploration
of talc and gold in Kajola local
government area of the state
He explained that the Solid Minerals
Development Fund (SMDF) was a strategic
intervention by the Federal Government,
capable of propelling the country’s
economic growth.
He, however, advocated the assemblage
of stakeholders in the industry
to brainstorm and map out strategies
towards attaining the objectives of the
SMDF, which was established in 2017 to
administer accruing funds meant for solid
minerals development.
The governor said: “There is no debating
the fact that for Nigeria to achieve her
desired growth, particularly in the solid
minerals sub-sector, there is need for an
intervention like the SMFD.
The governor therefore appealed to the
SMDF to use the opportunity of the workshop
to further enlighten and empower
those in the mining sector by exposing
them to the necessary steps that would
facilitate access to the fund.
Fatima Shinkafi, the executive secretary,
SMDF, said that the workshop was
aimed at exposing the stakeholders to the
opportunities and benefits in the mining
sector as an alternative revenue earner.
attracting. Technology transfer and skill
acquisition from Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) and other companies located
in the zone such as Skyrum International,
M-salah Engineering Agrim International,
Combination Industries, Bao Yao Iron and
Steel Group and General Electric FZE” .
He, however, said that the major challenge
facing the CFTZ Divisional Police
Station was shortage of staff and as a result,
“the personnel are constantly drifted to
other duties in town, considered to be hot
spots of crime.”
We sincerely appeal to the CP to use his
high offices to post more security personnel
to the division for efficient security
coverage.
The CFTZ which was initially known as
Calabar Export Processing Zone (CEPZ)
came into existence in 1992, after the
promulgation of the NEPZ Act No. 63 0f
1992.
Police uncover another
illegal brewery in Lagos
JOSHUA BASSEY
Friday 13 April 2018
The police have uncovered an illegal
brewery at Egbe-Afa in Igbogbo area
of Ikorodu and arrested five suspects
in connection with it. This is coming barely
a week after a similar illegal wine brewery
factory was uncovered in Mushin area of
the state.
Edgal Imohimi, the Commissioner of
Police, in charge of Lagos, who led newsmen
to the scene, said that the suspects would be
subjected to further interrogation to know
where the drinks were bottled and sold.
The illegal brewery was producing
Malt drinks, stout and ethanol which they
pumped into trucks to bottle at another
location.
The CP said that the illegal brewery had
been sealed and samples of the drinks would
be sent to the laboratory for test. He attributed
discovery to the efforts of community
policing and partnership.
According to him, the people of Lagos
are showing increasing confidence in the
police. Imohimi urged residents to know
their neighbours, saying that vigilance is the
only way to have a crime-free society.
“This success story of the police is an evidence
that community policing and partnership
is working in the state. This is an illegal
distillery where malt, stout and ethanol are
being produced in an unhygienic environment
thereby feeding poison to the people.
You will recall that a fake wine factory
was also discovered at Mushin recently. This
is as a result of vigilance. I encourage the
people to do more. This is an information
which should have got to the police earlier,
but I commend the people for sharing this
information with the police.
He said the people must be deeply involved
in crime fighting, adding that “Lagosians
can only give credible information to
the people when they are healthy; so I will
encourage you to say something when you
see something,” he said.
The illegal brewery has more than 1,000
drums of brewed malt and 100 tanks where
the drinks are pumped before supplying
tankers.
A building where operational items of the
suspects were kept was also located close to
the illegal brewery.
Drug abuse: NAFDAC wants parents
to check your children’s bags
The National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency (NDLEA) has challenged
parents and communities to step up
monitoring of youths against drug abuse.
Stella Ngwoke, a director in NDLEA in
charge of Drug Abuse Preventive Education
(DAPE) stated this during a community
awareness campaign on drug abuse
and misuse, in Lagos State, recently. The
campaign was organised by the West African
Postgraduate College of Pharmacists.
Ngwoke spoke on “the role of NDLEA in
combating drug abuse in the country.’’ She
described drugs as any substance, legal
or not, that could transform the central
nervous system and affect the person’s
behaviour or thought.
“Parents need to face the challenges
their children are experiencing as regards
drug abuse by checking their activities.
“Denial of drug abuse by their children
is a problem that must also be faced by
parents if they want this menace to be
eradicated easily.
“Parents should not be too tired to listen
and pay attention to their needs because
once they lose faith in you, they can never
confide in you,’’ the official said.