Another Arik staff arrested for drug trafficking, says they concealed cocaine in food supplies

An Arik air catering loader, Ikechukwu Chibuzor Oliver (pictured above) has been arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement, NDLEA, for being an accomplice to Chika Egwu, another staff of the airline who was on Monday Aug. 24 arrested at London's Heathrow airport with 20kg of cocaine worth N100 million.

Chika Egwu

A statement from NDLEA says Oliver, 35, was found to have undermined airport security by concealing cocaine in catering supplies. Oliver, an indigene of Abia state and a graduate of Business Administration, will place the banned substances into meal packs meant for the passengers and then will transfer the substance to Chika while onboard. 

The statement quotes Oliver as saying 

“It was Chika that introduced me into the drug deal. Whenever Chika gives me the drug, I will hide it in catering supplies. Chika knows where to collect the drug inside the flight. They pay me N400,000 per bag. I was expecting N1.2m for the three bags that I smuggled into the aircraft.”.

The statement further stated that the 20kg of cocaine found with Chika in London was concealed within the construction of laptop bags. 

"The quantity and estimated street value of the cocaine is over N100m. The latest Range Rover (Land Rover) car belonging to the prime suspect parked on the airline’s premises had been moved to the NDLEA office as exhibit. As part of investigation, the rented apartment of Chika on Pastor Ojediran Street Ejigbo, Lagos was searched by operatives of the NDLEA. He lives there with the mother and siblings while his wife and children are based in Canada.”.

Meanwhile NDLEA Chief Executive Officer, Ahmadu Giade, has instructed that henceforth, all airport workers must be screened before coming into the airport. 

Good News! Ebola Vaccine Works, Offering 100% Protection In African Trial

A highly unusual clinical trial in Guinea has shown for the first time that an Ebola vaccine protects people from the deadly virus. The study, published online today by The Lancet, shows that the injection offered contacts of Ebola cases 100% protection starting 10 days after they received a single shot of the vaccine, which is produced by Merck. Scientists say the vaccine could help to finally bring an end to the epidemic in West Africa, now more than 18 months old.

"This will go down in history as one of those hallmark public health efforts," says Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Twin Cities, Minnesota, who wasn't involved in the study. "We will teach about this in public health schools."

"It's a wonderful result and a fantastic illustration of how vaccines can be developed very quickly and can be used in an outbreak situation to control the disease," says Adrian Hill, a vaccine researcher at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, also not involved in the work.