Crime
Ado Aleiro Loses Son, Eight Family Members, 30 Motorcycles in Katsina Encounter
Ado Aleiro Loses Son, Eight Family Members, 30 Motorcycles in Katsina Encounter
By Zagazola Makama
Notorious bandit leader Ado Aleiro has reportedly suffered a major setback following the loss of his son, eight other family members and about 30 motorcycles during a recent encounter at Doma village in Katsina State.
Intelligence obtained by Zagazola Makama indicated that the losses have significantly weakened the operational strength and mobility of Aleiro’s criminal syndicate.
According to the intelligence report dated Aug. 9, all the estimated 30 motorcycles deployed by the syndicate during the encounter reportedly failed to return, with their occupants said to have been neutralised.
The report further stated that Aleiro lost his son and eight other members of his family during the encounter.
The development is considered a significant blow to the bandit leader, particularly because motorcycles remain critical to the mobility, communication and operational activities of criminal gangs operating across the North-West.
Following the reported losses, intelligence indicated that Aleiro was, as of 3:51 p.m. on Sunday, moving alone on a motorcycle around Sakya Dutse, Higi and Asaula areas.
Sources said his movement was being monitored amid efforts to establish his next destination and assess the condition of his remaining network.
Further intelligence also indicated that the bandit leader was concerned about the vulnerability of a proposed location for his illegal mining activities at Gidan Buhari, under Chadiya Ward in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Aleiro was reportedly apprehensive that the location could come under attack by Yansakai operating from Tsafe town.
The concern is believed to be linked to the weakening of his syndicate following the reported losses in Katsina and the possible exposure of his remaining operational networks.
Security sources said the latest development could provide security agencies with an opportunity to intensify pressure on the weakened syndicate and prevent the regrouping of surviving members.
The reported destruction of the motorcycles is particularly significant as it could limit the gang’s ability to conduct rapid movements, launch attacks, transport supplies and evade pursuing security forces across difficult terrain.
The latest setback comes amid sustained military and security operations against bandit groups operating across Zamfara, Katsina and neighbouring states under Operation FANSAN YANMA.
Security agencies are expected to maintain surveillance of Aleiro’s movements while assessing the extent of the losses suffered by his network.
Authorities have also been advised to strengthen coordination among troops and other relevant security agencies in the affected areas, particularly around Tsafe and other locations where the syndicate may attempt to regroup.
Ado Aleiro Loses Son, Eight Family Members, 30 Motorcycles in Katsina Encounter
Farmer injured in alleged attack by herders in Bokkos
By Zagazola Makama
A female farmer was injured after she was allegedly attacked by suspected Fulani herders at Josho village in Daffo District of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The incident occurred at about 5:15 p.m. on Sept. 16, 2026, when troops of Sector 5, Operation ENDURING PEACE (OPEP), responded to a report of an attack on the farmer, identified as Mrs Sarah Luka.
According to the report, the attack followed an alleged dispute after Luka resisted cattle grazing on her farmland.
Troops who arrived at the scene found the victim with injuries, while the suspected attackers had fled before their arrival.
Luka was evacuated to a hospital for medical attention.
Security personnel have commenced efforts to track and apprehend the fleeing suspects for further investigation and appropriate legal action.
Farmer injured in alleged attack by herders in Bokkos
South African Woman Bags 40 years for 5.75kg Heroin at Nigerian Airport
By: Michael Mike
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced a 38-year-old South African woman to 40 years imprisonment for importing 5.75 kilogrammes of heroin into Nigeria using her three-year-old son as cover.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu convicted Ms. Will Jessica Ann on two counts of importation and conspiracy to import heroin in charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/422/2026, which she pleaded guilty to.
The court sentenced her to 15 years on count one and 25 years on count two. The sentences will run concurrently. She will effectively spend 25 years in jail.
Ann was arrested on July 6, 2026, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight QR 1433 from Doha at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
NDLEA said she concealed 14 large blocks of heroin in two checked-in bags and travelled with her toddler to evade security screening.
According to the agency, she initially denied owning any checked luggage. Officers, however, linked two bags containing the drugs to her through baggage tags that tallied with claim tags attached to her passport.
She later admitted ownership, claiming she forgot she checked in the bags. She told investigators she flew in from Cambodia through Doha to Abuja.
Intelligence, NDLEA said, shows she is a member of a transnational drug trafficking organisation operating along the Cambodian-South African axis with her husband and partner, Jan Coenraad De Jager.
De Jager, who is based in Cambodia, was arrested in Johannesburg, South Africa, on July 27, 2026, while attempting to traffic 3.2 kilogrammes of illicit drugs to Hong Kong.
Reacting to the conviction, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), said the judgment demonstrates the judiciary’s resolve to support the agency’s war against drug trafficking.
Marwa said the conviction reinforces the agency’s position that Nigeria will not be a soft landing for international drug cartels.
He said the arrest of the convict’s partner three weeks after her arrest in Abuja underscores the strength of intelligence-sharing and collaboration between NDLEA and its foreign partners.
He said the agency will continue to strengthen airport interdiction and international collaboration to dismantle trafficking networks using Nigeria as a corridor.
Marwa warned that anyone, regardless of nationality, caught trafficking illicit drugs through Nigeria will face the full weight of the law.
South African Woman Bags 40 years for 5.75kg Heroin at Nigerian Airport
Kidnapped woman escapes abductors in Plateau, receives treatment for minor injuries
By: Zagazola Makama
A woman who was kidnapped by suspected armed robbers along the Kassa–Barkin Ladi highway in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State has reportedly escaped from her abductors and is receiving medical treatment.
The victim was abducted on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026, after suspected armed robbers blocked the highway with stones and intercepted vehicles along the route.
Security sources said the woman managed to escape from her abductors in the early hours of Wednesday, Sept. 16, and subsequently made her way to safety.
She is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Heipang, where she is being attended to for minor injuries reportedly sustained during the incident.
The development followed an earlier response by troops of Sector 4, Operation ENDURING PEACE (OPEP), deployed at the Alpha Guard location, who cleared the highway after discovering an ash-coloured Sharon vehicle without a registration number at the scene.
Sources said a security team has been dispatched to independently verify the circumstances of the woman’s escape and establish the location from which she escaped, as well as gather further evidence.
Security forces are also expected to intensify efforts to identify and apprehend the suspected kidnappers operating along the Kassa–Barkin Ladi axis.
Kidnapped woman escapes abductors in Plateau, receives treatment for minor injuries
OPEP troops foil suspected Fulani bandits reprisal attack on Jwerk Kargung village in Plateau
NIS Enrolls 8,552 Nigerians in Diaspora Passport Intervention
Experts Warn that Climate Crisis is Paramount to Explosion of Insecurity in West Africa
Roger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
FAILED COUP IN BURKINA FASO: HOW TRAORÉ NARROWLY ESCAPED ASSASSINATION PLOT AMID FOREIGN INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
-
News3 years agoRoger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions5 years ago
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
News1 year agoFAILED COUP IN BURKINA FASO: HOW TRAORÉ NARROWLY ESCAPED ASSASSINATION PLOT AMID FOREIGN INTERFERENCE CLAIMS
-
News3 years agoEYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
Opinions5 years agoPOLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
ACADEMICS3 years agoA History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Columns3 years agoArmy University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
Politics1 year ago2027: Why Hon. Midala Balami Must Go, as Youths in Hawul and Asikira/Uba Federal Constituency Reject ₦500,000 as Sallah Gift
