Nigerian kidnappers posing as white lovers lure, abduct Ghanaian women in Port Harcourt

By: Zagazola MakamA

Two Ghanaian women have been rescued from captivity in Nigeria after they were lured through social media by a group of Nigerian kidnappers who posed as white men in search of romantic partners.

Zagazola Makama understands that the victims, Anastasia Beidou and Evelyn Sewa Kunedu, were deceived into traveling separately to Nigeria, where they were abducted, tortured, and held for ransom.

At a press briefing held on Tuesday at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters in Accra, the Ghana Police Service confirmed that eight suspects have been arrested five in Ghana and three in Nigeria in connection with the kidnapping.

The Director-General of the CID, COP, Lydia Yaako Donkor, said the suspects used social media platforms to initiate romantic conversations with the victims while pretending to be foreign nationals seeking marriage.

The victims, unaware of the trap, accepted the marriage proposals. On April 22, 2025, both women traveled to Nigeria separately but arrived at the same location in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Upon arrival, they were seized by the gang and held captive.

The kidnappers demanded a ransom of 500,000 Ghana Cedis from each victim’s family. Videos sent to their relatives showed the victims bound and pleading for help, prompting immediate police investigations in Ghana.

A coordinated operation involving the Ghana Police Service, Nigeria Police Force, and the National Signals Bureau led to the arrest of five suspects in Ghana. These included Christian Emeka, and Basil Okonkwo, both Nigerians; and Titus Imba Awuni, Alfred Amalbio, and Mama Mahaseni Matei, all Ghanaians.

Three more suspects Peter Okoye, Paulinos Chidokwe, and Chinonso Okafo, were arrested in Port Harcourt and Onitsha by Nigerian authorities. The victims were rescued unharmed and are currently undergoing trauma care.

Investigations revealed that the suspects used Ghanaian SIM cards fraudulently registered with stolen Ghana Card details to receive ransom payments. One suspect, Titus Imba Awuni, a mobile money vendor, confessed to acquiring SIM cards through a telecom company employee who provided login credentials to register the cards illegally.

The suspects used the SIM cards to receive a total of 13,200 Ghana Cedis in ransom, which was later transferred into a Nigerian bank account under the name Cecilia Williams.

The victims reported that while in captivity, they were stripped naked, beaten with shards of glass, wrapped in orange bedsheets, and threatened with death. The gang recorded the abuse to pressure their families for ransom.

DCOP Donkor warned the public, especially young women, to exercise caution in online interactions, noting that criminal syndicates are increasingly using social media to exploit and abduct unsuspecting individuals.

She added that efforts are ongoing to extradite the suspects to Ghana for prosecution and reaffirmed the commitment of the Ghana Police to combating cross-border crime through collaboration with regional and international partners.

Nigerian kidnappers posing as white lovers lure, abduct Ghanaian women in Port Harcourt

Drug war: First Lady, UNODC, Marwa Charge States on Community-based Interventions

State governments have been charged to embrace and entrench community-based interventions that will curb the impact of the scourge of substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking at the grassroots in line with the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP).

The charge was the highpoint of remarks by the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu; Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Cheikh Toure as well as ECOWAS representative, Dr. Daniel Amankwaah at a training workshop organized by NDLEA for the Nigeria Governors Spouses’ Forum in Abuja on Tuesday.

The First Lady, in her keynote address to the gathering, commended the NDLEA, and NGSF for the initiative aimed at advancing drug control efforts to the grassroots across the country. She specifically commended Marwa and his team “for courageously confronting the fight against illicit drug abuse and trafficking in the country.”

Senator Tinubu, who was represented by wife of the Deputy Senate President, Hajiya Laila Jibrin Barau said: “This training cannot be coming at any better time than now when statistics and daily life experiences are revealing that drugs have infiltrated every nook and cranny of our communities. As a nation, we are confronted with a growing crisis, one that affects the very core of our society, the health, safety, and future of our children.

“The rising tide of drug and substance abuse amongst adolescents is a challenge that we must no longer ignore or tackle in isolation. It requires concerted efforts, community-driven response, one that integrates enforcement, education, family support, and sustained intervention. Our presence at this training testifies to the collective resolve we display in ensuring that we strengthen, secure, and safeguard families and communities.

“Today’s training will ensure that we are adequately armed with the right knowledge, tools, skills, and competencies necessary to effectively tackle this complex issue. It is my hope that this capacity-building workshop, through honest discussions and sharing of best practices, will provide valuable insights into evidence-based strategies for prevention, early intervention, and holistic treatment approaches, especially targeting marginalized and vulnerable communities.

“I urge us to utilize the knowledge gathered at this training to develop viable solutions while collaborating with relevant stakeholders, especially the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, other law enforcement agencies, MDAs, civil society organizations, healthcare providers, educators, and community leaders.

“Let us always bear in mind that as state First Ladies, you owe our people the duty to lead by example, to bear their burden, and share in their pain as we jointly confront drug abuse in our society. I urge us to continue to provide the right direction through prevention initiatives, advocating for those whose voices have been silenced by addiction, providing community interventions to support recovery and reintegrate people into communities after treatment.

“Let us approach the formidable task ahead with humility, doggedness, and commitment to enable us to build communities where our children are protected from harm and empowered to thrive. Together, we can change the narrative, restore dignity to our communities, and ensure a healthier, safer future for all Nigerians.”

In his welcome address, Marwa noted that the drug scourge obstructs progress and dims prospects in an already beleaguered world. “Regrettably, Nigeria is not immune to this scourge, which steadily infiltrates every stratum of our society. Statistics, academic research, and lived experiences alike reveal a grim reality about illicit drug use and consequences in the country. The magnitude and impact of the drug crisis render the attainment of our national aspiration—improving the health and security of all who dwell within our borders, as enshrined in the National Drug Control Master Plan 2021–2025—a daunting yet inevitable task for any government and people worthy of the name.”

He also said it is imperative for all stakeholders at the workshop to adopt urgent, holistic, and inclusive strategies to dismantle the drug menace. According to him, “Over the past four years, the NDLEA has pursued this mission with renewed and unwavering zeal, ensuring that Nigeria’s hard-won global and regional drug control successes are not merely preserved but expanded.

“Permit me to inform this distinguished gathering that over the four years, the NDLEA has deployed substantial resources towards a comprehensive assault on the drug problem, yielding significant outcomes. Under the drug supply reduction mandate—encompassing drug seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions—we recorded the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects (Including 68 drug barons), the seizure of 10,317,137.55 kilograms of assorted drugs, and secured the conviction of 11,628 offenders. Furthermore, 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis farms were identified and destroyed.

“To ensure a balanced approach in accordance with international best practices, equal emphasis has been placed on drug demand reduction. Between January 2021 and March 2025, a total of 24,375 drug users received counselling and treatment at NDLEA facilities, primarily through brief interventions. Concurrently, 10,501 drug sensitisation programmes were conducted nationwide under the auspices of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign, reaching diverse target groups within communities. In parallel, a remarkable 3, 843, 789 participants were mobilized to partake in these enlightenment initiatives undertaken across the nation.”

He charged the stakeholders not to surrender to despair over the menace of drug abuse. “As patriots and vanguards of our nation’s well-being, it falls on us to strengthen our resolve, to move with deliberate speed towards practical and lasting resolutions that will, God willing, break the vicious cycle of drug abuse. This capacity building event represents a stride, small though it may seem, in the proper direction.

“Since it is at the community level that the burden of the drug menace is most acutely felt, it is vital that stakeholders, including all of us gathered here today, address the different dimensions of the problem from a community-centred perspective. This gathering must strive for common ground, developing indigenous and pragmatic solutions that go beyond mere statistics and harrowing headlines, addressing instead the real and harrowing human toll of drug abuse.”

He also expressed confidence that the training will strengthen capacities, harness community resources, and unlock the potential needed to formulate and implement evidence-based interventions that will salvage and rejuvenate every segment of beleaguered communities. “Let us, as frontliners, ever remember: the cost of inaction is infinitely higher than the cost of collective action. Your Excellencies, your roles as mothers, changemakers, and drivers of the State Drug Control Committees (SDCC) place upon you a sacred trust—a responsibility not to be borne lightly. Through your ingenuity, your states may yet emerge as shining examples, immortalised in gold as bastions of hope that defied the tides of darkness.

“The SDCCs remain a potent platform for fostering multisectoral collaboration in the crucial task of drug demand reduction at the state level. I must fervently implore you to ensure the establishment, strengthening, and revitalisation of these Committees across your respective states. Let us always remember that the value of these training events lies not in the richness of their content alone, but in the continued motion and effectiveness of the SDCCs—moving resolutely towards our collective aspiration of a drug-free, resilient Nigeria”, he added.

Also speaking at the workshop, UNODC Country Rep Cheikh Toure stated that “If the root of this crisis lies in our neighborhoods, schools, and homes, then the solution must too. The National Drug Control Master Plan and the WADA initiative remind us of that national framework alone cannot heal fractured communities. Lasting change begins when states and local governments own this fight.”

He reminded the first ladies that their influence transcends politics, adding that “you are the custodian of trust in your states. When you speak, community listens. When you act, local governments follow. Today, I urge us to channel this unique power into three pillars of action. Number one, state-led resource mobilization. Every state must prioritize dedicated budget for prevention and treatment. This means establishing a state-specific drug control task force to align with NDLEA’s national efforts, allocating local government funds to build community drop-in centres, safe space for counseling, and care within walking distance of those in need.”

The UNODC chief stated further that states must adopt evidence-based programmes to their cultural contexts, and decentralize treatment access. The head of ECOWAS Drug Prevention and Control Division, Dr. Daniel Amankwaah spoke in same light in his goodwill message, urging state governments to invest in prevention and treatment efforts at the state and community-levels.

Experts who served as resource persons during the technical session of the workshop include: Dr. Martins Agwogie, Prof. Akintunde Oyedokun, Dr. Akanidomo Ibanga, Dr. Kunle Adeshina, Dr. Abubakar Salami, Dr. Kunle Adeshina and Dr. Ngozi Madubuike.

Drug war: First Lady, UNODC, Marwa Charge States on Community-based Interventions

Jigawa Commissioner Returns N301m Ramadan Feedings Excess Found.

By: Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse

The Jigawa state commissioner for special Duties, Mr Auwalu Danladi Sankara has returned a total sum of N301 million excess from the funds released to his ministry for last Ramadan feedings exercise to the state’s government treasury.

The commissioner announced the remnance of the amount at the state executive council meeting presided over by governor Malam Umar Namadi, after all the expenses during the immediate fast Ramadan feeding exercise across the 27 local government areas.

The state executive council in session has commended Mr Auwalu Danladi Sankara for what is described by true demonstration of accountability and transparency.

It could be recalled that the Jigawa State Government had released a total sum of N4.8 billion to the ministry for special duties where a committee was constituted and carried out the 2025 Ramadan feeding programme at about 700 feeding centers.

Gathered by Our reporter in the, that no fewer 300 people were fed in each of the 638 centers of 287 political wards in the state.

Mr Aiwalu Sankara said over 5,550 wewe fad in 29 day of the program which was aims helping the under privilege people and promote food security, economic empowerment, and to support local businesses and farmers through procurement of food items.

Jigawa Commissioner Returns N301m Ramadan Feedings Excess Found.