Crime
Businessman Arrested Over Illicit Drug Shipments from US into Nigeria
Businessman Arrested Over Illicit Drug Shipments from US into Nigeria
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have arrested a Lekki-based businessman and proprietor of Damillionz Takeout, Arokodare Damil Ebenezer in connection with the shipment of 60 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, from the United States of America to Nigeria.
The spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said the 43-year-old businessman was arrested at Bay Lounge, Admiralty Way, Lekki area of Lagos where he does his illicit drug business last Monday while he was expecting to take the delivery of his latest drug consignment.
Babafemi said the suspect arrest followed the seizure of his cargo that arrived Nigeria in seven big cartons at a logistics company in Lagos on 12th March by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation
(DOGI).
After his arrest, he was taken to his Lekki home for a search during which 94 grammes of the same psychoactive substance, cannabis crusher and other drug paraphernalia were recovered, bringing the total weight of the drug seized from him to 32.24 kilogrammes.
In his statement, he claimed he started the illicit drug business in 2017.
Attempt by another businessman Omoruyi Terry to export 1,400 pills of tramadol 225mg weighing 800 grammes to Italy has also been thwarted by NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Babafemi said Omoruyi was intercepted at the screening point of terminal 2 of the Lagos airport on his way to Italy via a Qatar Airways flight. Investigation reveals the suspect is an Italy based frequent traveler and logistics agent.
In Katsina, four suspects: Baraka Abubakar, 40; Haruna Alitine, 23; Muhammad Babangida, 20; and Hamisu Lawal, were arrested last Friday during an intelligence led raid operation at Godai village in Daura local government area where 684 blocks of compressed skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 423 kilogrammes and 86,000 pills of diazepam were recovered from them. The three male suspects were arrested while repackaging the diazepam tablets into other containers while Baraka, the female suspect was apprehended with the heaps of skunk in her house.
The NDLEA spokesman said not less than 13,198 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa were destroyed in Edo forests across parts of the state between last Monday and Friday by NDLEA operatives who also evacuated 158 kilogrammes of same substance for possible prosecution.
He disclosed that the forests where no fewer than four cannabis plantations were discovered and destroyed include: Uhen forest, Ovia North East local government area. Sobe, Owan West local government area; and Amahor forest in Igueben local government area.
In Niger state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Mokwa-Jebba road last Friday intercepted a black Toyota Corolla car marked SLM 137 SV and arrested the two occupants in possession of 179 blocks of compressed skunk with a total weight of 77.6 kilogrammes concealed in false bottom of the vehicle. The two suspects are: Paul Christopher, 46, and Lucky Anumie. In another operation, 50 kilogrammes skunk was on Saturday recovered from the home of a suspect, Isa Iliya, who is currently at large, in Wawa village, Borgu council area of the state.
While 108.5kg of skunk was recovered from lockup shops at Aria New Market, in Enugu metropolis, Enugu state by NDLEA operatives last Tuesday, 25 kilogrammes of same substance was seized from a suspect Abdulrazak Saka at Kilako Area of Ilorin, Kwara State last Monday. Another suspect Sulk Saheed, 50, was nabbed with 2.5 kilogrammes of Ghanaian Loud and 515 grammes of Colorado, at Olomi Academy area of Ibadan, Oyo state.
Babafemi said with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others 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, DOGI, Edo, Kwara, Niger, Enugu, Oyo and Katsina commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures, stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated. He extended eid-el-fitr greetings to them, their families, other stakeholders and Nigerians at large.
He added that: “May the spirit of obedience and sacrifice that defines this special day guide and strengthen us as we remain steadfast in our pursuit of a drug-free society. May Allah continue to bless and guide us and may our collective efforts bring us closer to a safer and healthier society for all.”
Businessman Arrested Over Illicit Drug Shipments from US into Nigeria
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
