The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has commenced investigation of one Duru Damian arrested by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) over alleged failure to declare 49,000 dollars at Lagos Airport.

EFCC Spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said that Damian was intercepted by operatives of the NCS during a routine check at the AML/ CFT Currency Declaration Desk on Monday at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

“Upon his arrest, the suspect, who was scheduled to travel on Emirates Airline to Dubai, claimed he had only 10,000 dollars on him.

“However, when a search was conducted on him, a sum of 49,000 dollars was discovered undeclared, totaling 59,000 dollars,” he said.

The Area Comptroller in charge of the NCS at the Airport, Effiong Harrison, while handing over to the EFCC, decried failure of travellers to comply with the currency declaration law.

“Today, we are having a process that we have been doing over a period of time now.

“When we intercept currencies, we do the needful of handing over to the appropriate agencies of government,” Harrison said.

According to him, sustained sensitization and announcements are being made at relevant airports on the need for travellers to declare their currencies or equivalents.

“Also, the electronic signages in the halls display these messages.  Yet, at intervals, we also have people who fail to adhere to the extant laws and regulations,” he said.

On his part while receiving the suspect, the acting Zonal Director, Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, EFCC, Assistant Commander Ahmed Ghali, said the commission would continue to enforce the law.

“We are here to take over one of the recalcitrant Nigerians who do not want to abide with the law in relation to money laundering.

“We will not relent in enforcing the law.   All that we are saying is that laws are meant to be obeyed.

“We will always do our best, in line with our mandate, to ensure that any individual who violates the law does not go scot free,” Ghali said.

The Federal Government on Wednesday disclosed a plan to set up a livestock breeding center in each of the six geopolitical zones to enhance productivity and sustainability.

The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, disclosed this in Kaduna at a two-day interactive session on Government-Citizens Engagement, organised by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation.

The event is themed, “Assessing Electoral Promises: Fostering Government-Citizens Engagement for National Unity”

Speaking at a plenary on Agriculture and Food Security, Abdullahi said the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is intentional about investing in Nigeria’s livestock sector.

He reaffirmed the federal government’s commitment to fostering synergy among key sectors to achieve the broad objectives of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi said his ministry is collaborating with the Ministry of Education to redesign curriculum for young farmers to adopt modernisation and boost the sector.

According to him, the initiative aims to equip the next generation with modern agricultural skills, technology-driven knowledge, and innovative farming practices to strengthen national food security.

Abdullahi said the synergy among the Ministries of Agriculture, Environment, Water Resources, Livestock Development, and the Marine and Blue Economy are imperative for delivering on the Renewed Hope Agenda.

By Laide Akinboade, Abuja

The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) on Tuesday said appropriate sanctions will be meted out to FCT Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS) Health Maintenance Organisation (HMOs), failing to promptly remit payments to Healthcare providers.

The FHIS is a social Health Insurance Programme, offering financial protection through access to quality, affordable and equitable healthcare to all FCT residents.

Free enrolment is open to staff of the FCTA and Area Councils as well as vulnerable persons, including pregnant women, while other members of the public can enroll upon payment of N22,500 as premium per annum.

In a bid to improve the quality of healthcare services provided to the FHIS enrollees, about N4 billion, being outstanding/backlog payments for capitation and fee for service for years 2022 to 2024, was approved by the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike and paid between last year and this year.

This was contained in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the FCT Minister on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka said the Benefit Package of the FHIS includes the Basic Minimum Package of Health Care services (BMPHS) ranging from promotive, preventive, curative and some rehabilitative care services.

The services include primary preventive care, screening, primary emergency services, and secondary level care such as dental, mental, eye, ear, nose and throat care, physiotherapy, surgeries, laboratory investigations, radiological investigations such as ultrasound scan, x-rays.

However, complaints have been received from some Healthcare providers concerning non-remittance of their payments by some HMOs, under the excuse that bank details of the hospitals were not available, an excuse not acceptable to the government.

Therefore, compliance of the HMOs to the prompt remittance of payments to Healthcare providers, as well as commitment of the Healthcare providers to the discharge of their duties to the FHIS enrollees will be monitored with a view to sanctioning defaulters appropriately.

On implementation of the FHIS in the last one year, there have been payment of all outstanding capitations and fee for service backdated to year 2022 by the end of 2024, improved timeliness in the payment of capitation to HMOs, review and increment of the capitation to Healthcare providers for improved service delivery to enrollees, free enrolment of vulnerable persons especially pregnant women and under-five, poor and indigents, who have started enjoying healthcare services, and accreditation visits to 100 Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities to expand the number of PHC facilities in FCT and improve access to healthcare services in the communities.

Also, all pregnant women who enrolled through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres across the six Area Councils in the FCT will continue to enjoy free health education, medical consultation and treatment, routine antenatal drugs, laboratory investigations and delivery.

Referral for secondary care including caesarean section, blood transfusion, and treatment of other obstetric complications such as eclampsia, at all the 14 General Hospitals in the FCT is also provided at no cost to the patient through the BHCPF.