By Gom Mirian, Abuja 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has assured candidates seeking to participate in its ongoing recruitment exercise that concerted efforts are being made to resolve challenges they are facing on the application portal to make the process seamless any moment from now.

The Director, Media, and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, gave the assurance in a statement released yesterday in Abuja.

The assurance is coming barely five days after the online application portal was opened on March 12.

Femi said the portal began to experience glitches due to the heavy traffic.

“Over 200,000 applicants tried to access the portal.

However, Femi said the agency has taken the decision to “upgrade the infrastructure on Tuesday to accommodate the large volume of applicants after over 53,170 applicants had successfully logged into the portal.”

He added that data at the back end of the portal was been synchronized to adjust to the server upgrade. 

“The management, therefore, wishes to apologize to the applicants for the hitches being experienced and urge them to exercise patience while the system completes synchronization to serve them better.

Troops of 13 Brigade Nigerian Army, Calabar, deployed for Operation Akpakwu, have rescued the Commissioner for Women Affairs in Cross River, Mrs Gertrude Njar, from captivity.

The announcement of her rescue is contained in a statement by Capt. Dorcas Aluko, Army Public Relations Officer, 13 Brigade, Calabar on Wednesday.

The Commissioner was kidnapped on Feb.

”Acting on actionable intelligence on victim’s whereabout, troops laid a tacit ambush for the kidnappers around Peter Effiong Creek, Messembe, Jebs.

”The gallant troops tactically sprung an ambush to take the kidnappers by surprise while on search of the victim.

”In the ensuing melee, the criminals abandoned the victim and fled into the creeks,” Aluko said.

She added that the troops were on the trail of the fleeing criminals.

According to Aluko, the victim is currently receiving medical treatment, after which she will be discharged.

”The Commander 13 Brigade Nigerian Army commends troops for their gallantry and urges them to sustain the tempo against all criminal elements in the Brigade’s Area of Responsibility.

”Members of the general public are also encouraged to continue providing timely and accurate information on criminal activities within their vicinities,” she said. (NAN)

The Police Command in Lagos State has confirmed the death of a 65-year-old security guard (names withheld), in a fire incident at a market in Lagos.

SP Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesperson of the command confirmed this in a statement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Hundeyin said that the fire incident occurred at about 3:00 a.

“The fire which started at the early morning was put out by a combined team of officers from Tolu Police Division and the Lagos State Fire Service.

“Sadly, a 65-year-old security guard lost his life in the incident,” he said.

According to him, the command has commenced investigation into the incident.

Hundeyin said that the State Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa, has urged residents to remain calm as the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) had been directed to take over the investigation.

“The CP has directed the SCID to take up the investigation with a view to unraveling the true circumstances surrounding the incident.

“Owohunwa calls for restraint in giving any form of extraneous coloration to the incident,” he said.

The image maker assured that the outcome of the investigation would be made public. (NAN)