By Adedapo Adesanya

The British Government has distanced itself from the actions of Mr Micah Polo, an alleged British army officer, who was recently apprehended in connection with arms procurement and an alleged plot to instigate unrest in Warri, Delta State.

The development has received widespread condemnation with many stakeholders demanding a thorough probe of the indicted soldier and alleging that the UK was fuelling instability in the country.

In a short statement shared with Business Post on Wednesday, the British High Commission acknowledged that the individual identified did serve as a junior rank in the UK Armed Forces Reserves but was later discharged. It didn’t provide further details.

According to a statement credited to an unnamed spokesperson, the British High Commission in the statement said, “The individual identified in recent Nigerian media reporting is not a serving member of the UK Armed Forces.”

The British High Commission added that whilst in the Reserves, Mr Polo was a junior rank not a commissioned officer. Many reports had ascribed him a Major.

This newspaper learnt that UK common law and Data Protection Act protects the personal details of current and former employees, hence why it was not able to release any additional information on the matter.

According to reports, Mr Polo, an Itsekiri by origin, was allegedly recruited by one Collins to procure weapons and ammunition intended to fuel tribal tensions in the oil-rich region.

However, operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) from the Delta Command were said to have foiled the move on Friday night and arrested the arms supplier during a covert exchange near Asaba, Delta State.

During the operation, over 50 AK-47 rifles, six pump-action shotguns, and more than 3,000 rounds of ammunition were confiscated.

Mr Polo, on the other hand, was intercepted in Lagos as he attempted to board a flight to the United Kingdom, while his associates were apprehended in Asaba during the operation.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Minister of Interior, Mr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has announced plans to establish a harmonised centre to combat immigration document fraud.

Speaking while receiving the UK Minister of State for Home Affairs, Mr David Hanson, in his office in Abuja, Mr Tunji-Ojo highlighted the need for a centralised system to verify documents in real time.

“One of the key issues we also realised with border control is what we call immigration and document fraud. It is very key and we realised that one of the reasons why this is quite on the rise is because there is no centralised pool of authentication and verification of documents in real time.

“So, today, if people submit 20 documents, you might need to go to 20 issuing agencies to verify 20 documents belonging to one person. So, if you have 1,000 people per day, you might need to look for 100,000 verification and authentication systems. That breeds inefficiency,” he said.

Mr Tunji-Ojo added that the centre would authenticate documents like passports, birth certificates, and bank statements, enhancing Nigeria’s image and investor confidence.

“As a government, we are trying to be more proactive than reactive, and we don’t want to judge our performance in terms of fraud by virtue of recoveries or convictions, but rather by the number of crimes or frauds that we prevented from happening,” he stated.

On his part, Mr Hanson emphasised the shared agenda between Nigeria and the UK to improve criminal justice outcomes.

“There is a great common agenda that we can share and I am particularly keen to look at how we are working together closely. My visit this week will also look at the new joint centre that you are undertaking,” he said.

He noted ongoing UK-Nigeria collaboration on migration policies, visa systems, and trade, following Mr Tunji-Ojo’s recent meeting with UK Home Secretary, Ms Yvette Cooper.

The UK delegation included officials from the Home Office, National Crime Agency, and UK High Commission in Nigeria.

By Emmanuel Udom

The Abeokuta diocese of the Catholic Church in Ogun State is set to hold a one-day training for all parish correspondents across its over 69 parishes in the state.

Business Post gathered that the training is planned for Saturday, May 3, 2025, at the St Peter & Paul Catholic Hall, located at Itesi along Adetan Road in Abeokuta, Ogun Sstate.

The training will commence from 10 am to 2.30 pm and the event is coming ahead of the church’s Communications Week (ComWeek) fixed for May 25 to June 1, 2025, at the same venue.

The Social Communication Director for the diocese, Fr Gregory Fadele, in a statement said all parish correspondents are expected to be at the venue of the training on or before 9.30 am for registration.

He, however, disclosed that no proxy arrangements would be allowed as refreshments, stationary, certificate of participation, and others would be given to each correspondent drawn from all the parishes of the Catholic church in Ogun State.