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NAPTIP: Activities of Orphanages Are Being Investigated Nationwide

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NAPTIP: Activities of Orphanages Are Being Investigated Nationwide

By: Michael Mike

Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Prof. Fatima Waziri-Azi has revealed that many orphanages in the country are presently having their activities investigated for likely child trafficking.

She made the revelation during a one-day community dialogue and advocacy on sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) organised by the agency for stakeholders in Gwagwalada local council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The NAPTIP DG said some orphanages commit a lot of infractions that can be categorised as human trafficking, noting that: “We are investigating a lot of orphanages around the country, NAPTIP is currently prosecuting some of these orphanages.

“The agency is witnessing a lot with these orphanages. No orphanage has the right to conclude the adoption of children. NAPTIP comes in when there is an element of human trafficking.”

She warned operators of orphanages to be careful about their mode of operation, adding that Nigerians should avoid adopting babies from such homes.

In February, the federal capital territory administration sealed the Priesthood Orphanage in Karon Majigi village, Abuja, for allegedly trafficking 23 children whose ages range from one to 14 years.

The children, who were rescued from the orphanage, were alleged to have been trafficked from Plateau State.

The NAPTIP head also condemned the act of child molestation, lamenting that it has become a rampant issue facing the young one today.

She said: “Issues of sexual and gender based violence happens mostly at the community level and we must all create solutions that deals directly with this problems and the solutions can only come from you as stakeholders. The grievous offenses like, infliction of injury, female genital mutilation should not be settled at the community level. These are very serious offenses that deserves legal action and settling this kind of issues at the community level is just blatant injustice to the victim”.

She added that: “So protecting offenders, intimidating witnesses, hinders justice and leads to a lot of withdrawal of cases. also notes that it is a serious crime to tamper with evidence. You tamper with evidence that can help law enforcement investigations, intimidation, threats, blackmailing, or when you give the witness money. All these are serious offenses that someone can be arrested for, It is also a crime to obstruct any law enforcement officers from doing their job”.

Earlier, the Chairman of Gwagwalada area council, Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin Giri speaking to at the event said: “One of the major problems we have in our society today is gender based violence in Which has become a phenomenon in our society. And thank God that people are coming in to join hands with the governments to see how we can eradicate or at least bring to the minimum the menace in society.”

He added that: “Our youth is our future leaders, and the way we take care of them is how they will be tomorrow.”

NAPTIP: Activities of Orphanages Are Being Investigated Nationwide

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

By: Zagazola Makama

A wave of coordinated security offensives in Imo State has barbecued the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with the killing of key kingpins and the dislodgement of notorious terrorist camps in forested parts of Njaba and Isu Local Government Areas.

Zagazola Makama understand that The offensive, which began on June 29, was spearheaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in close collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, special forces, and local tactical units.

It was launched after the arrest and detailed confessions of two ESN commanders Uchenna Opara, popularly known as Ntanta Miri, and Ozioma Ihedoro, a.k.a OZ, both natives of Umuaka community in Njaba LGA.

Acting on actionable intelligence, the joint team raided and obliterated several terrorist enclaves, including Umuele Umuaka, Ezioha, and Ugbele Umuaka, known safe havens of the separatist group.

A fierce gun battle ensued as operatives stormed the camps. Three ESN fighters were neutralised during the confrontation, while others reportedly escaped with bullet wounds. Their bodies were later recovered along the Ugbele Umuaka axis.

What followed was a methodical clearance operation targeting the B44 camp cluster, long considered one of ESN’s strategic base networks. The camps, codenamed B44 Tangle 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9, were all successfully dislodged by the joint force.

A caterpillar operator working with the team was tragically killed in the line of duty when the group came under sudden fire while approaching the B44 main camp. He was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, but later confirmed dead by a medical officer on duty.

Items recovered from the operation included:
One AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of live ammunition, pump-action shotgun, two locally made IEDs, one human skull and a Biafran flag

In addition, two suspected ESN members were arrested during the combing of nearby bush paths. The duo Emeka Ogene Sabinus of Ezi Isu in Isu LGA and Nnabuike Emmanuel of Ohofia Oduma in Aninri LGA, Enugu State were said to bear tribal incisions associated with the proscribed militia.

The collapse of the B44 cluster was significant in the counterinsurgency drive in the South-East, where pockets of armed resistance have posed growing threats to residents, security personnel, and national assets.

“The terrain is difficult, but our operatives are relentless,” a senior official close to the operation said. “We are targeting leadership figures, supply chains, and safe havens.”

Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to apprehend fleeing fighters, with mop-up operations continuing in adjoining forest belts across Orlu, Njaba, and Isu corridors.

The Imo offensive adds to a growing list of successes by joint intelligence-led operations aimed at stabilising regions grappling with armed separatist violence, kidnappings, and the weaponisation of local grievances.

DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

By: Zagazola Makama

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested three most-wanted bandits and kidnappers operating across Abuja and neighbouring parts of Kaduna State.

According to a police sources, the arrests were carried out on June 29 between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., by operatives of the Scorpion Squad led by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, following actionable and digital reconstructive intelligence.

The sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects were identified as: Abdulkadir Abubakar, a native of Mpape, FCT, Mohammed Tasiu Sani, of Rigina, Kaduna State, Suleiman Jibrin, 27, of Sabon-Gayan, Kaduna State.

The three suspects, all Fulani by tribe, have been on the command’s most-wanted list for
their roles in multiple kidnapping and banditry operations, particularly in Jere, Kajuru, the FCT and its environs.

During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting victims and moving them to detention camps in Kachia and Rigina forests in Kaduna State. Some victims, they admitted, were held for months, while others were killed at will.

The sources revealed that one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Abubakar, provided disturbing details of internal executions within the gang, in which some members were killed by their own leaders over mistrust and betrayal.

An operational motorcycle, popularly referred to by locals as the “Boko Haram Motorcycle,” was recovered during the raid. The suspects are currently assisting operatives in ongoing efforts to recover arms and ammunition, and to track down other gang members still at large.

FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

By: Zagazola Makama

A 20-year-old farm labourer identified as Solomon (surname yet unknown) has been found dead with gunshot wounds after he was allegedly shot by a member of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, along the Ilesa/Iperindo Road in Osun State.

The incident, which occurred on June 29, followed the reported confrontation between a local security operative and a group of five farm labourers on their way to a farmland.

According to Temidayo Olowookere, the employer of the deceased, the labourers were accosted around 11:00 a.m. by an Amotekun operative, one Ajayi Ibukun, who accused them of extorting money from passersby. Two members of the group were apprehended, while the remaining three fled into the bush.

Olowookere said the detained workers were later released to him in the afternoon. However, later in the evening, when two of the three fleeing labourers returned, Solomon remained missing.

A search party was immediately organised. His body was discovered in the bush with gunshot wounds on his back, raising suspicions that he may have been shot during the initial confrontation.

His remains were evacuated to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the morgue for autopsy.

Police say efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the security operative allegedly involved in the shooting, while the community continues to call for justice.

Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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