Crime

NAPTIP Begins Renewed Clampdown on Human Traffickers

Published

3 years ago

March 15, 2022

News Net Global

NAPTIP Begins Renewed Clampdown on Human Traffickers

By: Michael Mike

The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) has begun a renewed clampdown on all child traffickers including those involved in buying and selling of human beings.

The agency in the last one year has rescued no fewer than 30 babies from criminal elements, traced the parents and reunited the babies with them while those arrested are facing prosecution in different courts across the country for child trafficking, according to a statement issued it’s Head, Press and Public Relations, Stella Nezan

According to the statement, the Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Dr. Fatima Waziri-Azi has directed all Zonal and State Commanders of the agency across the country to commence surveillance operations within their jurisdiction to ensure that all child traffickers including those involved in buying and selling of human beings are apprehended and made to face the wrath of the law.

Also Read: Borno ministry confirms killing of lion in Konduga LG

Waziri-Azi also directed that all homes where buying and selling of babies are suspected to be going on (also known as baby factories) should be unearthed, shut down and the operators apprehended for prosecution.

She directed the Zonal and State Commanders to liaise with sister law enforcement agencies within their areas of operation for joint actions to stem the tide of child abduction, trafficking and buying and selling of such children.

The Director-General who recalled the recent case in the Shongatedo area of Lagos State where a dispatch rider had a child in his dispatch box apparently meant to be delivered to someone, said that such cases should not be allowed to fester in Nigeria.

She expressed confidence that the Nigerian Police Force, who is already handling the case, will get to the root of the matter, while stressing the readiness of the agency to work with the Police to investigate and prosecute all perpetrators.

She said: “We cannot allow this type of evil to continue in our country and before our eyes. The Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015 empowers us to deal with all cases of human trafficking including the buying and selling of human beings as well as cruelty to children. Who knows the intentions of that dispatch rider and those that sent him? Who knows the state of the mother of that baby right now?

‘’We have already rescued many of such children over the years, traced the parents and reunited the children with them while prosecuting those involved, but we must do more as the crime is not abetting. Every day, the criminals are devising new strategies and we must in collaboration with other sister law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders including members of the public so that we can get ahead of this national crisis. That is why we are being paid by taxpayers, to protect them by delivering on our mandate.“

She lamented that: “These criminal elements do not mean well for the children and their parents. What drives them is the money they make from such sales while the agony of such parents and what becomes of the children do not matter to them. There is currently an entire value chain for the buying and selling of children in Nigeria.”

She also called on members of the public to be vigilant to the happenings within their environment as the criminals involved in the abduction and trafficking of the children are not strangers but people they know. “We are not saying that the members of the public should take the law into their hands by going after the criminals but rather, they should share intelligence with relevant agencies.”

She however, advised law enforcement agencies to make themselves trustworthy before the people so that the members of the public can have the confidence to share information and intelligence with them, noting that: “If the members of the public are not sure that you will protect their identities or bring the criminals before the law, they will not come to you.“

NAPTIP Begins Renewed Clampdown on Human Traffickers

Crime

Two immigration officers shot in Abuja after being mistaken for robbers

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Two immigration officers shot in Abuja after being mistaken for robbers

By: Zagazola Makama

Two immigration officers were shot in the Sabon Iddo area of Abuja on Friday night after being mistaken for armed robbers by a man identified as Pastor Darlington, who is currently at large.

A Police sources told Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred at about 10:00 p.m. when the officers, Oyomide Zion and Hakeem Mashood, were on routine movement in the area.

According to police sources, at about 11:40 p.m., the Divisional Police Officer of Iddo Division received a distress call and deployed patrol teams to the scene.

Upon arrival, another immigration officer, Uduk James, reported that his colleagues had been shot. The injured officers were evacuated to the Nigerian Air Force Base Hospital, Abuja, where they are currently receiving treatment.

Police sources say efforts to track and arrest the fleeing suspect, identified as Pastor Darlington alias, have been intensified.
End

Two immigration officers shot in Abuja after being mistaken for robbers

Crime

NDLEA arrests Iran-bound Hijab wearing woman with cocaine in private part, stomach, bag at Port Harcourt Airport

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

NDLEA arrests Iran-bound Hijab wearing woman with cocaine in private part, stomach, bag at Port Harcourt Airport

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted a desperate attempt at the Port Harcourt International Airport to smuggle cocaine into Iran by a woman, Ihensekhien Obehi who disguised with hijab and concealed the illicit drug in her private part, stomach and false bottom of handbag.

According to a statement by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, she was intercepted at the security checks of the departure hall of the Port Harcourt airport on Sunday 3rd May 2025 while trying to board a Qatar Airline flight to Iran via Doha following credible intelligence.

Babafemi said during her search, she was found to have inserted three wraps of cocaine in her private part, and two large parcels hidden in false compartments of her handbag while she swallowed 67 pellets of the Class A drug.

He said she was placed under excretion observation and after four excretions that lasted days, she expelled the 67 wraps of the substance in her stomach. She claimed she was to swallow 70 pellets of cocaine but after ingesting 67 pieces she could no longer swallow the remaining three and decided to insert them into her private part, adding that the total weight of the three consignments hidden in different parts of her body comes to 2.523 kilogrammes.

Babafemi said in like manner, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos last Friday intercepted a 22-year-old British national, Campell Slifer coming from Thailand through Doha on Qatar Airways flight with two suitcases loaded with 35 parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 37.6 kilogrammes.

Campell, who claimed he had twice been convicted in the UK for drug trafficking and robbery, said he was recruited in London to travel to Thailand to pick the illicit consignment and bring same to Nigeria.

In Niger state, NDLEA officers acting on intelligence last Wednesday intercepted a fuel truck marked ABJ 693 XU and three other vehicles loaded with 246 bags of skunk, a strain of cannabis with a combined weight of 3, 047 kilogrammes along Suleja-Kaduna road. Four suspects arrested with the exhibits include: Christopher Onyema, 47; Benedict Etineruba, 54; Chukwudi Ujue, 30; and Mohammed Danasabe. Apart from the fuel truck, three other vehicles recovered from the suspects include: Honda Odyssey bus marked YAB 667 CZ; Gulf bus with registration number GWA 125 TQ and
Honda Odyssey bus marked ABJ 230 CN.

At Oja Amukoko in Ijora area of Lagos, two suspects: Eze Chekube and Ike Chinyerem were last Thursday arrested by NDLEA operatives with a total of 109,914 pills of tramadol, swinol and nitrozepam seized from them, while 52.5 kilogrammes skunk was recovered from two suspects: Lukman Umar, 23, and Tukur Ammadu, 20, in a bus at Gwantu, Sanga local government area, Kaduna State last Tuesday, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu- Jebba expressway, Kwara State last Monday arrested Rufai Nasiru with 45,400 pills of tramadol 225mg.

In Bauchi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Bauchi-Gombe road last Tuesday intercepted a Toyota Tundra jeep marked RBC 111 DW conveying 526 blocks of skunk weighing 505 kilogrammes with two suspects: Isaac Onogure, 37 and Ikechukwu Peter, 44, arrested.

Babafemi said a total of 31 kegs containing 775 litres of codeine syrup were recovered from two suspects: Hafizu Uman, 34, and Ismail Shehu, 48, when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout at Rijiyar Zaki area of Kano on Saturday, while 1.1 kilogrammes of Loud consignment concealed in pillow coming from Thailand was last Tuesday intercepted by NDLEA officers at a courier company in Lagos.

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

Meanwhile, while commending the officers and men of DOGI, MMIA, PHIA, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Kwara, and Niger commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

NDLEA arrests Iran-bound Hijab wearing woman with cocaine in private part, stomach, bag at Port Harcourt Airport

Crime

Army troops neutralised 5 Boko Haram insurgents in renewed offensive in Sambisa Forest

Published

3 days ago

May 12, 2025

Ochuwa Ibrahim

Army troops neutralised 5 Boko Haram insurgents in renewed offensive in Sambisa Forest

By: Zagazola Makama

The ongoing military onslaught under Operation Hadin Kai has recorded another feats, with the successful neutralisation of five Boko Hara fighters in the notorious Ladin Buttu axis of Sambisa Forest.

The recent encounter, which resulted in the recovery of arms and critical supplies, reinforced the renewed momentum of the Nigerian military’s intensified offensive operations deep into insurgent-held enclaves within the forest.

Ladin Buttu, a known terrorist transit and logistics hub, particularly for water access, had long served as a strategic hideout for insurgents operating within the fringes of the forest. But under the latest push by troops of Operation Hadin Kai, it has become the latest flashpoint in a string of aggressive operations designed to dismantle remnants of terrorist infrastructure.

Military sources told Zagazola Makama that the troops made contact with the terrorists during a clearance patrol and engaged them in a fierce firefight. Five terrorists were neutralised, while others fled with varying degrees of gunshot wounds.Recovered from the scene were three AK-47 rifles, five loaded magazines, and other military ordnance.

The operation, forms part of a broader recalibrated campaign by the Theatre consequent upon the visit of the COAS who has ordered intensified ground raids and aerial surveillance across Sambisa, Timbuktu Triangle, and parts of the Lake Chad fringes in a bid to cripple the operational capacities of the Boko Haram and ISWAP factions.

Army troops neutralised 5 Boko Haram insurgents in renewed offensive in Sambisa Forest