Crime
NDLEA Detains Two Wanted Drug Barons, Arrests Two Others for Ingesting 175 Wraps of Heroin
NDLEA Detains Two Wanted Drug Barons, Arrests Two Others for Ingesting 175 Wraps of Heroin
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have taken into custody two wanted alleged heads of transnational criminal organisations with multi-billion-naira worth of illicit drugs and assets seized from them.
According to a statement on Sunday by the spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, their arrest was after weeks of intelligence-led operations across the country and outside Nigeria.
He revealed that the arrest of the wanted drug lords came on the heels of the interception of consignments of cocaine and heroin buried in the bellies of two traffickers heading to Paris, France and Doha, Qatar by NDLEA officers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
He said operatives at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos last Tuesday succeeded in taking into custody, Hakeem Salami, the arrowhead of “Tajudeen Babatunde Abioye Transnational Criminal Organization” involved in the illicit trade of several narcotics including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ephedrine between Nigeria, Brazil, Ghana, South Africa, Mozambique, and Europe.
Salami, was said to have fled Nigeria to South Africa upon the arrest of a member of his syndicate, Suleiman Oba at the Lagos airport on August 25 over attempt to export 25.1 kilogrammes of ephedrine to South Africa.
Babafemi said Hakeem Salami was however smoked out of hiding through partnership with South African authorities and other intelligence and investigative mechanisms, while some of his luxury vehicles have been seized and his home in Surulere, Lagos sealed, other members of the cartel already in custody include Suleiman and Godwin Edet Mathew.
According to Babafemi, Salami in his statement claimed he was into the importation of building materials from China to Nigeria and used to sell gold in South Africa before delving into the illicit drug trade about two years ago.
He said the alleged head of another cartel, Okafor Ikechukwu (aka Jantu) and his wife, Okafor Ifeyinwa were also taken into custody on Thursday 5th October when NDLEA operatives raided their hideout at 9 Awa Street, Ago Palace, Okota area of Lagos where they recovered 27.566 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in a blue box and two sacks, ready for export to Europe and Asia.
He said their Lexus RX350 marked ABJ 512 AY parked in the house was also seized during the operation, noting that their arrest followed weeks of intelligence gathering about the activities of the criminal network.
Babafemi, said at the Abuja airport, operatives on Friday 6th October arrested a drug trafficker, Nwofor Ejiogu, 45, during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR 1432 to Doha. After body scan revealed he ingested cocaine, he was placed under observation during which he excreted 75 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.653 kilogrammes and at the point of his arrest, Nwofor who was the last passenger to board his flight allegedly offered to compromise an NDLEA officer with $3,000 to free him.
The spokesman said the following day, Saturday 7th October, another trafficker, Nwufo Okwudili, 45, was also arrested while attempting to board Lufthansa Airlines flight LH 0595 to Paris, France via Frankfurt, Germany. After being put through body scanner, he was taken into recovery room where he excreted 96 wraps of heroin he ingested with a total weight of 1.413 kilogrammes.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene -Lokoja-Abuja expressway last Tuesday intercepted a commercial bus coming from Lagos to Kano. A search of the bus led to the seizure $4,880,000 and CFA57,000,000 suspected to be counterfeits.
In Sokoto, the Federal High Court in the state capital presided over by Justice Ahmad Mahmud has sentenced an acting district head, Alhaji Umar Mohammed (aka Dan Bala) to five and a half years in jail on four count charges of possession and dealing in 436.38 kilogrammes of cannabis and 7 kilogrammes psychotropic drugs brought against him by NDLEA in October 2022. He was convicted and sentenced to two years on each of counts 1 and 2 with an option of N1 million fine, and eight months on each of counts 3 and 4 without an option of fine.
Operatives in Edo state last Wednesday stormed the Orue forest, Owan West local government area where they arrested Happy Akashili, 37, and Solomon Uwesue, 40 in a hut located inside a cannabis farm measuring 2.367308 hectares which was destroyed, with 92 kilogrammes already processed skunk recovered, while 49 kilogrammes of same substance were also seized at Ogbeturu camp.
Babafemi said the Commands across the country balanced their drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaigns to schools, markets, worship centres and communities. Some of these include: WADA sensitisation lecture on Drug Use and Mental Health for students of 15 secondary schools in Ibadan metropolis at the University of Ibadan, Oyo state; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Ascension College, Iworo Imeke, Badagry Lagos; WADA sensitisation lecture at Modern Comprehensive College, Amokwe, Udi LGA, Enugu; WADA sensitisation lecture for students of National Secondary school, Awka; Students of JIBWIS Islamic Science Secondary school, Herwagana, Gombe; students of Government College, Makurdi, Benue; students of Government secondary school (Boys), Kafin Maiyaki, Kano and students of JNI Special Model primary School, Gusau, Zamfara.
The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) while commending the efforts of the NAIA, MMIA, Kogi, Sokoto and Edo Commands of the agency as well as the Special Operations Unit targeting the drug cartels, for jobs well done in the past week, assured that officers and men of the agency will never let down their guards no matter the tricks and distractions orchestrated against it by criminal networks.
NDLEA Detains Two Wanted Drug Barons, Arrests Two Others for Ingesting 175 Wraps of Heroin
NSCDC Arrests Fake Member of House of Rep, and His Criminal Gang
By: Michael Mike
The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Professor Ahmed Audi has ordered investigation into the case of a fake member of the House of Representatives.
A statement by the spokesman of NSCDC, Afolabi Babawale on Tuesday revealed that the Commandant General has ordered the Commandant, Special Intelligence Squad (SIS), to arrest and thoroughly investigate one Hon. Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam, Obeten John, Abubakar Mohammed, and Lucky Emenike on allegations bordering on criminal conspiracy, forgery, false personation, and attempt to deceive the public against the four suspects.
Babawale said preliminary investigation reports carried out by the Commandant General’s Special Intelligence Squad (CG’s SIS) revealed that the said Hon. Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam has been posing as a House of Representatives member, representing Katsina Central Constituency, and has been issuing official correspondences and complimentary cards with the inscription “Federal Republic of Nigeria, Hon. Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam, Member House of Representatives, Katsina Central Constituency, National Assembly Complex, Abuja.”
Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam and the three others were arrested after they requested to see the NSCDC Commandant General under the guise of being an Honourable Member, Federal House of Representatives, representing the Katsina Central Constituency.
He said during profiling and interviews, the suspect, Hon. Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam, confessed that he hired an SUV PRADO Jeep with registration number ABC 359 GN, a car for hire, with a driver named Lucky Emenike through one Ismaila, who is a car-for-hire driver as well.
He added that the prime suspect further confessed to requesting a security orderly, and one Inalegwu Ameh, who was alleged to be a Nigerian police officer on guard duty at the NICON Luxury Hotel, volunteered to join the team.
It was further gathered that the prime suspect and his team embarked on a series of illegal official and consultative visits to the Ministry of Art and Culture, Federal Secretariat Abuja, the Transmission Company of Nigeria, Mataima Paracel Crescent, and Wuse Zone II, then to an automobile workshop at Jabi before making their way to Hassan Sanijikan’s house at No. 21 Bamako Street, Zone I, Abuja.
Babawale said still on the mischievous movement in his identity theft pursuit targeted at disparaging the public; Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam requested for security orderly again the next time through Lucky Emenike but Inalegwu Ameh the acclaimed Police personnel referred Lucky Emenike to Police Inspector Obeten John who dressed in Camouflage suspected to be Nigeria Police Uniform to serve as orderly and the three of them then proceeded from Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam’s apartment to Ministry of Art and Culture, Spain Embassy at No. 8 Bobo close Mataima where they allegedly met with the Spain ambassador among others and he submitted applications for visas for over ten applicants under the same guise of a Honourable House of Representatives member well as the Ministry of Works and Housing Mabushi, Abuja.
He noted that Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam and the other three suspects, however, met their Waterloo while extending their visit to the office of the NSCDC Commandant General under the guise of Honourable Member, Federal House of Representatives, Katsina Central Constituency, where they were arrested and taken into custody.
Babawale said some of the exhibits recovered from Hon. Hassan Sani Jikan Mallam include multiple copies of complimentary cards, which label him as Hon. Member, House of Representatives, Katsina Central Constituency, National Assembly FCT, Abuja. Multiple copies of letterhead papers labelled “National Assembly of Nigeria,” which have been used illegally in writing official letters to embassies and other top government agencies; Official dispatch envelopes labelled “National Assembly of Nigeria,” while further documents included signed copies of letters addressed to the Ambassadors of Spain, France, the Netherlands, China, and others, were addressed to the Federal Inland Revenue and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s Human Resources, respectively, with some pictures with acclaimed ambassadors of Spain and Romania.
The spokesman revealed that in an interview with the Commandant, Special Intelligence Squad (SIS), Commandant Apollo Dandaura, he hinted that though the incident is still under investigation, all the suspects had confessed to their various levels of involvement in the crime, and at the end, diligent prosecution would be made out at the court of competent jurisdiction to serve as a deterrent to other criminal-minded persons with such intentions.
He also advised the general public to be very vigilant in dealing with people so as not to fall victim in the hands of impostors and to report to relevant security agencies any suspicious individuals.
NSCDC Arrests Fake Member of House of Rep, and His Criminal Gang
Kogi: Two arrested over killing of herder in Aku community
By: Zagazola Makama
Two persons have been arrested in connection with the death of a herder in Aku area of Kogi State.
Zagazola report that the incident occurred on Oct. 19, 2025, when 25-year-old Sule Muhammadu, a Fulani herder, went to graze cattle in the nearby bush.
His body was later discovered along an old road to Aku village with a gunshot injury to the chest.
Sources said that the recovered an empty cartridge at the scene, and photographs were taken before the corpse was released to the family for burial according to Islamic rites.
The suspects, identified as Momoh Jimoh Abdul Malik and Dada Adeika, both residents of Aku community, have been taken into custody.
Kogi: Two arrested over killing of herder in Aku community
Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest
By: Zagazola Makama
A hunter in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a woman he mistook for a monkey while hunting in a forest.
Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident occurred on Monday at Basam Osokom community, when the hunter, identified as Otu Goodness Kanang, reportedly fired at what he believed to be a monkey perched on a tree.
According to the sources, Kanang said he heard a human cry after taking the shot and later discovered that he had mistakenly hit a woman identified as Victoria, whose other names were yet to be ascertained.
Detectives visited the scene, and with the help of community youths, evacuated the body to the residence of a local chief in Bansam for further action.
The suspect has been taken into custody as investigation into the incident continues.
Police said normalcy has been restored to the area and the Command remains calm.Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest
By: Zagazola Makama
A hunter in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a woman he mistook for a monkey while hunting in a forest.
Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident occurred on Monday at Basam Osokom community, when the hunter, identified as Otu Goodness Kanang, reportedly fired at what he believed to be a monkey perched on a tree.
According to the sources, Kanang said he heard a human cry after taking the shot and later discovered that he had mistakenly hit a woman identified as Victoria, whose other names were yet to be ascertained.
Detectives visited the scene, and with the help of community youths, evacuated the body to the residence of a local chief in Bansam for further action.
The suspect has been taken into custody as investigation into the incident continues.
Police said normalcy has been restored to the area and the Command remains calm.
Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest
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