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NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports

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NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports
..Arrests 2 Businesswomen, Canada-based Nurse for Cocaine, Loud Trafficking at Lagos Airport

By: Michael Mike

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos two businessmen: Ihejirika Okechukwu and Iwuagwu Ikedi as well as a Canada-based nurse Usman Olami for attempting to import and export cocaine pellets and parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis through the airport.

A statement by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi on Sunday said Ihejirika who have been a frequent visitor to Thailand from where he claims to be importing fish into Nigeria was arrested last Tuesday while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Babafemi said when he was taken for body scan, the result showed he ingested illicit drug which proved to be cocaine, and as a result, he was placed under excretion observation during which he digested five big egg size wraps of cocaine weighing 400 grammes.

In his statement, Babafemi said the 51-year-old suspect confessed that he was to be paid upon successful delivery of the drug consignment in Thailand, adding that he took the job to raise money to boost his fish importation business.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport last Thursday intercepted a 26-year-old businessman Iwuagwu Ikedi coming from Brazil via Addis Ababa during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight.

According to Babafemi, Iwuagwu body scan revealed ingestion of illicit drug which made him to be placed under observation, where he excreted a pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grammes.

He was said to have confessed that he ingested 30 wraps of the illicit drug in Brazil but excreted 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person, he equally revealed that he was to be paid N2.5 million for trafficking the drug.

A Nigerian Canadian nurse Usman Olami was on 4th October arrested by NDLEA officers at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada via Paris. During a search of her luggage, a total of 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.7 kilogrammes were recovered from her.

Babafemi said during her interrogation, she claimed she was in Nigeria to meet her boyfriend who instructed her to come with the large consignment of the highly sought-after synthetic cannabis.

At the seaports, Babafemi said a total of 162,351 bottles of codeine based syrup were intercepted from two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos by NDLEA operatives during a joint examination of two containers with men of the Customs Service and other security agencies last Tuesday while not less than N7.2 million pills of Royal 225mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth N3.6 million in street value were seized from a watch-listed container from India at Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers state last Tuesday.

In the same container, 780 cartons of chlorphenamine containing 15.6 million pills of the opioid, were also recovered. From two other watch-listed containers equally searched at the port in Onne, a total of 337,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth about N2.4 billion were recovered from them last Tuesday and Thursday, bringing the total value of the seized Tapentadol, Carisoprodol and Codeine consignments at the two seaports about N7.1 billion.

In Bauchi state, a suspect Sunday Ogenyi, 33, was arrested along Bauchi-Jos road with 76,600 pills of tramadol concealed in false compartments of his Toyota Sienna vehicle marked Enugu JRV 341 ZY, while NDLEA operatives in Ondo state last Tuesday arrested three suspects: Goddey Obizuo; Samuel Aniete; and Kuffrey Aniete at Afo village where 672 kilogrammes cannabis sativa was seized from them.

A raid at Illushi forest in Esan South East LGA, Edo state led to the destruction of 10,590.36 kilogrammes cannabis spread on 4.236144 hectares of farmland. Suspects arrested during the operation include: Benson Upuoni, 65; and Sunday Nwaeboyi, 35.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday 15th October arrested Andrew Anoriode with 3 kilogrammes methamphetamine and 1.9 kilogrammes cannabis along Lagos – Ibadan expressway while 241 kilogrammes of same substance was recovered at Gbaji, Badagry area of the state. A suspected meth cook, Agbeiboh Oscar, was nabbed same Tuesday at Abule Osun with 265 grammes of methamphetamine and different quantities of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and others.

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, PHPC, Apapa, Lagos, Bauchi, Ondo, and Edo 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.

NDLEA Intercepts iover N7billion worth of Opioids at Apapa, Onne seaports

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Suspected terrorist arrested by Niger National Guard in Bangoula

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Suspected terrorist arrested by Niger National Guard in Bangoula

By: Zagazola Makama

Elements of the Niger National Guard (GNN) stationed in Bangoula have arrested a suspected member of a terrorist armed group during a routine road check and identity verification operation.

According to sources, the suspect, identified as Soumaila Mahamadou Hamadou, 27, was intercepted on July 7, 2025, while attempting to travel without valid identification.

Hamadou, a native of M’banga and reportedly a dealer by profession, was found in possession of 2,250,000 FCFA and a mobile phone. He claimed he was visiting Niamey for the first time to recover payment from a business transaction involving 40 cans of 20-litre draining oil allegedly sold to an individual named Ousseini, and purchased from a man called Talla in Ballabe.

However, security personnel raised concerns over the credibility of his account, noting that commercial flows of draining oil typically move from Niamey to rural areas, not in reverse. This discrepancy prompted further investigation into the suspect’s activities.

Preliminary interrogation and forensic analysis of his phone revealed troubling information. Hamadou reportedly admitted to being affiliated with terrorist armed groups (GAT) since 2022 and operating under the pseudonym “Zoubeirou” within the sect.

He further confessed to being under the command of a certain AMIR Abdoulaye, who was recently linked to the attack on the Niger National Guard post in Bouloudjouga. Hamadou also claimed participation in a coordinated assault against the Nigerian Armed Forces in August 2024, involving approximately 300 motorcycles with two fighters each.

Security sources confirmed that Hamadou bears multiple gunshot wounds on his left forearm, shoulder, right chest, and left lower jaw, which he sustained during the aforementioned attack.

He is currently being held in custody at the Track Brigade, where investigations are ongoing to determine the full extent of his activities and affiliations.

Suspected terrorist arrested by Niger National Guard in Bangoula

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Police rescue 26 kidnapped victims in Niger during operations along Birnin-Gwari, Kagara, and Yauri axis

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Police rescue 26 kidnapped victims in Niger during operations along Birnin-Gwari, Kagara, and Yauri axis

By: Zagazola Makama

The Niger State Police has rescued 26 kidnapped victims, mostly women and children, during a sustained rescue operation across Maikujeri, Kagara, and Yauri axis following a tip-off. Police sources at the Command confirmed the development to Zagazola Makama on Tuesday.

The sources said that the victims had been abducted earlier in Birnin-Gwari area of Kaduna State and were being transported by their captors towards the New-Bussa axis between July 4 and 5.

“On July 5, police patrol teams attached to Kagara Division intercepted and rescued multiple victims being moved along Maikujeri–Kagara Road towards Babanna.

Those rescued include: Tani Ali and her three children, Hajara Muhammad, Zainab Salihu and her minor child, Asabe Luka, all females from Munya and Rafi LGAs of Niger State, Zuwaira Ahmed from Basha village in Sardauna LGA, Taraba State, and her two daughters.

The sources added that on the same day, at about 9:30 p.m., another rescue operation led to the interception of a Toyota vehicle driven by one Yusuf Abdullahi of Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State.

“Thirteen more kidnapped victims were rescued from the vehicle. The movement was being coordinated by one Salma Usman, who was meant to contact the receiver of the victims in Yauri, Kebbi State,” he said.

“The police recovered five mobile phones from the victims and took all rescued persons to Asamau Clinic for medical evaluation,”said the sources.

The police source confirmed that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspects and reunite all the victims with their families.
End

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Troops neutralise militia during clearance patrol in Plateau community

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Troops neutralise militia during clearance patrol in Plateau community

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Sector 5, Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), have neutralised a suspected militia member during a clearance operation in Hokk community, Mushere West District of Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau State.

Sources told Zagazola Makama that the operation, which took place on July 3 at about 11:45 a.m., was part of a long-range patrol covering Tulus and Hokk communities along the Plateau–Nasarawa border.

The sources said that the troops came under attack from armed militias in Hokk but successfully repelled the assailants, killing one while others fled the scene.




As of the time of filing this report, troops have continued to dominate the general area with aggressive patrols to prevent further militia activity.

Troops neutralise militia during clearance patrol in Plateau community

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