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NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Baron on the Run for 7 Years

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NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Baron on the Run for 7 Years

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted 60-year-old alleged drug kingpin, Okpara Chigozie, who had been on the run for seven years.

A statement by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said Okpara was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.

He disclosed that Okpara has been on the wanted list of NDLEA since 2019 and was eventually nabbed at his hideout at 72 Micheal Ojo Street, Isheri in Ojo area of Lagos state on Sunday 13th July 2025 following the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45am same day at Ilasamaja along Apapa-Oshodi expressway.

Babafemi said in the early morning operation, a team of NDLEA officers acting on credible intelligence arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Nnamdi while heading to Onitsha, Anambra state in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle.

He said the agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle after which 7.6 kilogrammes of cocaine and 900 grammes of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus, adding that a follow up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri where additional 1.8 kilogrammes cocaine and 1.3 kilogrammes methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.

Babafemi said at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) last Wednesday recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa. The suspect who was going to Italy via Istanbul on Turkish Airlines flight claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.

In another arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives at the export shed last Thursday intercepted 17 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1.7 kilogrammes concealed in packs of popular cereal, Golden Morn, going to Pakistan as part of a consolidated cargo. A suspect, Chioba Uchenna who presented the consignment for shipment was arrested.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Saturday raided Sarah Sam Hotels located at 115 Ogudu road in Kosofe where different party drugs are being distributed and sold. The raid followed credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed a suspect Obayemi Oyetade as the arrowhead of the drug network.

Babafemi said at the time of the operation, 1.3 kilogrammes Chocolate Cannabis, 900 grammes of gummies and 22.9 grammes of skunk were recovered from Obayemi’s room in the hotel, which is a 20-room facility run as a family business, housing his mother and siblings. Other items recovered from the hotel include three vehicles.

He said three suspects: Onyeka Madu, Monday Nwadishi and Emmanuel Madu were on Saturday arrested during an intelligence-led raid at Narayi High Cost area of Chikun local government area, Kaduna State, where 742.866 kilogrammes of skunk, and Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis were seized from them. In Kano, Lawan Rabiu was nabbed with 36,000 pills of tramadol along Danbatta-Kazaure road, last Wednesday.

He said while a total of 25,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were recovered from a suspect Aliyu Abubakar, at Gombe roundabout last Friday, the duo of Mohammed Adamu and Furaira Idris were arrested same day with 49 blocks of compressed skunk that weighed 29 C180 at Kwadom, Yemaltu Deba local government area, Gombe state.

In Borno, NDLEA officers on patrol along Baga road, Maiduguri, on Saturday intercepted 74,360 pills of opioids in a Mercedes Benz C180 car marked GUB 409 AA and arrested Audu Modu, 44, in connection with the seizure, while in Bayelsa state, a 63-year-old grandma Akuna Nelson was last Thursday arrested at Osiri area of Yenagoa in connection with the seizure of 163 litres of skuchies.

He said four suspects: Ikechukwu Abugu, 42; Sunday Ani, 18; Chukwu Christian, 46; and Emmanuel Olisakwe, 55, were last Thursday arrested by NDLEA operatives along Okene-Lokoja highway, Kogi state in connection with the seizure of 2 kilogrammes methamphetamine recovered during a search of their vehicle coming from Onitsha, Anambra state to Minna, Niger state.

In Abia state, NDLEA officers last Monday raided the base of a notorious drug dealer, Nduka Obi, 39, at 4 Niger street, Ugwa road, Aba, where various quantities of tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and a total of N736,000 monetary exhibit were recovered from him.


While a total of 45,000 pills of tramadol were seized from a suspect Chisom Okpalaeke, 30, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Onitsha – Enugu expressway, Enugu state last Wednesday, officers of the Taraba state command of the agency same day apprehended the duo of Ngwokwoka Thomas, 44, and Mohammed Audu, 44 with 10,000 caps of tramadol and a gramme of cannabis at Dan Anacha, Gassol local government area.

The spokesman said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA commands equally continued across the country in the past week.

Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), while commending the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Bayelsa, Gombe, Borno, Abia, Kogi, Enugu, and Taraba commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

NDLEA Arrests Wanted Drug Baron on the Run for 7 Years

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Nigeria: Boko Haram attacked Governor Buni’s home tomorrow, killing 36 soldiers and police officers

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Nigeria: Boko Haram attacked Governor Buni’s home tomorrow, killing 36 soldiers and police officers

By: Our Reporter

At least 36 soldiers and mobile police officers were reportedly killed after Boko Haram insurgents launched coordinated attacks on two military formations in the Gujba Local Government Area of Yobe State, northeast Nigeria.

The attacks, which occurred around 1 am on Friday, May 8, 2026, targeted the Theatre Training Centre in Buniyadi and the 27 Task Force Brigade in Buni Gari.

Soldiers who survived the attacks said that the insurgents stormed both camps almost simultaneously, forcing troops into fierce gun battles that lasted several hours.

One of the soldiers narrated that the insurgents overwhelmed parts of the formations during the midnight assault.

“My camp was attacked by Boko Haram. In 27TF BDE Buni Gari, three soldiers were killed in action, and the attack started by 1:00a.m. The Boko Haram were attacking us and, at the same time, attacking our neighboring camp,” the soldier said.

“This is in Gujba Local Government in Yobe State, at Governor Mai Mala Buni’s hometown. The names of the two camps attacked are the Theatre Training Centre Buniyadi and the 27 Task Force Brigade Buni Gari.”

Another soldier at the camp also confirmed the development, saying, “The attack happened in two locations near our neighboring camp, which was the NSF. So we were in Bunigari, which is the governor’s town. The other camp is in Buniyadi. The two camps are very close.”

“So, unfortunately, we started hearing that Boko Haram was attacking Buniyadi last night around one o’clock a.m. They started attacking them. We were preparing to go and reinforce them. Before you know it, we started hearing gunshots in our own camp too.

“So we could not go and get involved with the Buniyadi camp. Those in Buniyadi are the ones in charge of training soldiers coming to the Northeast with the police. Those are the MOPOLs. They are meant for training those people. But we are not training anybody. We are in Gujba Local Government, which is the governor’s town.”

The soldier said that although his own formation lost three soldiers, the casualty figure at the training center was significantly higher.

“But in our 27 Task Force Brigade, we lost three soldiers. There are casualties at the training center too,” he added.

“Information sharing on the platform shows that the training center has more casualties. Thirty-three people were killed: 17 mobile police officers that came for training were killed in action; 10 soldiers that came for training were killed in action, while six soldiers permanently deployed there were also killed in action. Yesterday was bloody.”

The total casualty figure from both attacks currently stands at 36, based on information obtained from military sources.

Nigeria: Boko Haram attacked Governor Buni’s home tomorrow, killing 36 soldiers and police officers

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Berom Man condemns five youths caught manufacturing weapons, says act same as terrorism

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Berom Man condemns five youths caught manufacturing weapons, says act same as terrorism

By: Zagazola Makama

A Berom man has condemned the alleged arrest of five youths reportedly caught manufacturing firearms, describing the act as terrorism and urging communities to refrain from supporting unlawful armed activities.

He made the remarks in a two-minute video circulating online.

He said the arrested youths were allegedly found manufacturing guns and assembling ammunition on their own, adding that such actions should not be justified under the guise of community protection.

According to him, any claim of self-defence by individuals or groups must be known to community leaders and relevant government authorities, rather than being carried out secretly by a few persons stockpiling arms.

He argued that the development amounted to terrorism and should be treated as such, insisting that the youths involved must be properly investigated to determine who they were producing the weapons for and how they were being used.

The speaker also cautioned against ethnic interpretations of the incident, noting that criminal acts should not be defended on communal or religious grounds.

He further urged members of the Berom community and other groups to openly condemn the act, warning that protests or calls for the release of suspects could be seen as complicity.

He stressed the need for full legal action against those involved, adding that communities must avoid creating what he described as “another armed group in the name of fighting insecurity.”

Below is the full transcription of his statement:

This pictures you are seeing are pictures of five Berom youths that were apprehended yesterday manufacturing guns. This is another level of terrorism that I have been talking about. Another different level of terrorism.

They have now learnt how to assemble ammunitions by themselves. I will come out and say it. Because I swear nobody sent them. In the other video that I made I said if you say that you are getting weapons to protect your community, the community head should know. The government should know, not a few individuals will just start to stockpile arms and then you will say that you are protecting your community. No, this is terrorism. These people are terrorists and there are no two ways about it.

Now you see, they have now started calling them Berom terrorists. One Berom man will be angry. Sincerely speaking, I am Berom too. But I must tell you, you should not be angry because you are being referred to as Berom terrorist, you should be angry because these are your children caught in this act. You have no right to be angry that they are calling Berom terrorists, Berom militia. This type of attitude. We have been telling you to speak to these children, stop the revenge attacks, we told you to tell these children to stop doing things that would get them into the net of the authorities like this. Because when they get caught, they will be used as an example. Now these things will be flying all over the world just to prove that the Berom people too are doing terrorism.

If anyone comes out now to say that the people of Berom are terrorists, will you say that they are not terrorists? Will you say you don’t engage in terrorism? Because definitely that is what they are doing. Ethnic profiling, we did it too. We are also coming out to say Fulani militia. Why are we saying it? Because of what they are doing. Now our children are also being caught.

If we know what is better for us, be it a Muslim, be it a Christian, it is better for us to come out and add our voice and tell the world that what the children are doing is bad. Because the truth is it is not right. And now that they have been caught like this, I am begging you because of God not to hear that our people have come out for protest because it will be very shameful. It will show that you have a hand in this.

Anyone who comes out to protest, anyone who speaks that they should be released or do anything, I swear he is complicit too in the crimes and he should be arrested and also added into their team and asked since when did you start producing weapons, who are they manufacturing them for, what are they being used for. There should be serious interrogation and they should face the full wrath of the law. All of them have no excuse whatsoever.

When they come out you will say because they are being terrorized so we are being terrorized, so then you will start making guns without anybody monitoring you. It is an act of terrorism and I hope that this thing will stop and I hope and pray that people will come out and call this out. And I keep saying we cannot create another terrorist organization in order to fight terrorism.

And you see as a Christian or a son of Berom, if you don’t come out and condemn this, if they continue like this as time goes on we are going to be the victims of this stupidity.”

Berom Man condemns five youths caught manufacturing weapons, says act same as terrorism

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Eight kidnapped victims regain freedom in Kaduna

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Eight kidnapped victims regain freedom in Kaduna

By: Zagazola Makama

Eight kidnapped victims abducted from their farmlands in Kaduna State have regained freedom after spending several weeks in captivity.

Security sources said the victims arrived at the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Tantatu in Kajuru Local Government Area at about 9:00 a.m. on May 7.

The sources disclosed that the victims were among persons abducted on April 12 from farmlands near Kankomi village.

According to preliminary investigations, the victims were released from a terrorist camp located within Rijana Forest on May 6 before making their way to the troops’ location.

The sources said the victims were subsequently handed over to local authorities in Chikun Local Government Area for further care and necessary assistance.

Security agencies said efforts were ongoing to intensify operations against criminal groups operating within forests and rural communities across Kaduna State.

Eight kidnapped victims regain freedom in Kaduna

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