Troops neutralise seven terrorists, rescue hostages in Borno

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Joint Task Force (North East), Operation Hadin Kai, have neutralised seven terrorists and rescued three abducted persons during coordinated clearance and ambush operations in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno.

Zagazola Makama reliably informed that the latest encounters occurred in the early hours of Saturday under Operation Desert Sanity V.

According to the sources, troops operating in conjunction with members of the Hybrid Force and Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) made contact with terrorists at about 4:40 a.m. at Sojiri, a known terrorist crossing point in Konduga LGA.

“During the firefight, five terrorists were neutralised, while three hostages kidnapped by the terrorists were successfully rescued. One AK-47 rifle was also recovered,” the sources said.

They added that no casualty was recorded on the side of own troops, with no personnel killed, wounded or missing.

In a related operation, the main advancing force into terrorist territory was reported to be about four kilometres short of the crossing point at Kana after commencing movement from a harbour position.

The sources said contact was made by an ambush team between Meleri and Ngirbua, where two additional terrorists were neutralised and one AK-pattern rifle recovered.

Zagazola reports that Operation Desert Sanity V is part of sustained offensive actions by the Nigerian military aimed at degrading terrorist networks, blocking movement corridors and rescuing abducted civilians across the North East.

Troops neutralise seven terrorists, rescue hostages in Borno

Three women killed as Bachama–Tsobo crisis resurfaces in Adamawa

By: Zagazola Makama

The killing of three Tsobo women on a dry season rice farm in Numan Local Government Area has reignited the Bachama–Chobo conflict, whose roots stretch far beyond the sound of gunfire.

Zagazola Makama report that the latest incident occurred on Friday at about 10:30 a.m. while some Tsobo women were working on their dry-season rice farm. Sources said that suspected Bachama youths stormed the farming area in large numbers and began shooting sporadically. In the process, three women were shot dead,” the source said.

The killing of the three Tsobo women on a dry-season rice farm in Numan is not an isolated tragedy. It is the latest expression of a conflict whose roots lie far deeper than gunshots, farmlands or a single failed peace meeting.

The Bachama–Chobo crisis is a classic Nigerian communal conflict, layered, historical, emotional and politically combustible where land ownership, identity, chieftaincy authority and generational amnesia have fused into a dangerous cocktail.

At its core, the crisis is not merely about who owns which farmland. It is about who belongs, who rules, and who decides the future of a shared space. For centuries, Bachama and Chobo communities lived together in Numan and its environs under a largely harmonious arrangement. Markets were shared. Water points were communal. Schools, hospitals and even marriages crossed ethnic lines. There was no rigid separation between “host” and “settler” in daily life.

That coexistence was sustained not by written treaties or court judgments, but by social contracts rooted in tradition, mutual respect and the authority of traditional institutions. Disputes over land were settled locally. Authority was recognised, even if grudgingly. Peace endured because both sides saw coexistence as more valuable than confrontation.

What has changed is not history but how history is interpreted, weaponised and transmitted to younger generations. The Bachama and Chobo tell fundamentally different origin stories, and each story carries political implications.

The Chobo present themselves as original inhabitants, landlords who accommodated Bachama migrants out of goodwill. From this perspective, the Bachama are “guests” who have overstayed their welcome and now seek to dominate both land and chieftaincy.

The Bachama counter this narrative by portraying the Chobo as mountain dwellers who were encouraged to descend into the plains, settled and supported through leased farmlands. In this account, Bachama authority is not imposed but historically earned.

Neither narrative is neutral. Each defines who has moral legitimacy, who should defer, and who has the right to rule. Once such narratives harden, compromise becomes betrayal and dialogue becomes surrender.

Investigations and community testimonies consistently point to farmland disputes involving Waduku and Rigange as the immediate triggers of violence. But land is only the spark, not the fuel. Land disputes in Nigeria rarely remain about boundaries alone. They quickly evolve into questions of identity and power, especially where farming is the primary means of survival.

For Chobo communities described as largely mountain dwellers, access to fertile plains is existential. For Bachama communities, control of land reinforces political and traditional dominance. Once farming rights are framed as existential threats, moderation disappears.

Historically, traditional rulers resolved such disputes. Today, that mechanism is broken.
The Chobo’s rejection of traditional mediation stems from their perception that the entire traditional hierarchy is Bachama-dominated, making justice structurally impossible. From their standpoint, accepting verdicts from Bachama-led institutions amounts to legitimising subordination.

The Bachama, however, see this rejection as bad faith and intransigence, especially when mediation panels include Chobo representatives. Each side believes the other is deliberately undermining peace. This mutual distrust has hollowed out traditional conflict-resolution systems, leaving a vacuum filled by courts, security forces and increasingly youth militancy.

Perhaps the most dangerous element in the crisis is generational. Older community leaders remember coexistence. Younger actors remember grievance. Many of today’s youths were born into suspicion, not solidarity. They inherited anger without inheriting context.

Slogans like “Sokoto must go” illustrate how historical migration narratives are simplified into political weapons. Such rhetoric does not seek negotiation; it seeks erasure. Once a community is told it must “return” after centuries of settlement, violence becomes not only possible but, to some, justified. Social media, music and street mobilisation have amplified these sentiments, weakening elders’ authority and making youth groups de facto power brokers.

The chieftaincy question has transformed the conflict from communal disagreement into a struggle over sovereignty. Bachama leaders insist that Chobo fall under the statutory authority of the Hamma Bachama. Chobo leaders reject this, seeing it as symbolic domination. Withdrawal of allegiance was not merely cultural, it was political defiance.

Peace talks collapsed largely because reconciliation was framed as submission rather than coexistence. Apologies demanded, loyalties reaffirmed and conditions imposed turned dialogue into a zero-sum contest. In conflicts of identity, dignity often matters more than land.

The Adamawa State Government, through peace agencies and direct intervention by Gov. Ahmadu Umar Fintiri, has made sustained efforts to mediate between the warring communities. Multiple meetings involving elders, youth representatives, traditional rulers and government officials have been held. Yet, each round of talks has ended without lasting agreement, often undermined by fresh outbreaks of violence shortly after. Curfews and security deployments have restored temporary calm, but residents say such measures amount to enforced silence rather than genuine peace.
The renewed violence has taken a heavy toll on civilians, particularly women engaged in farming and trading.

Community leaders lament that farms and markets once symbols of shared livelihood have become theatres of bloodshed. The killing of women working on rice farms has deepened fears and resentment, reinforcing the sense that the conflict has spiralled beyond control. The Bachama–Chobo crisis mirrors broader challenges across Nigeria, where disputes over land, identity and traditional authority intersect with weak dispute-resolution mechanisms and rising youth radicalisation.

Until issues of legitimacy, land access and historical grievances are addressed through an inclusive and neutral process, observers warn that violence will continue to recur.
End

NDLEA Intercepts Drugs Hidden in Coffee Sachets, Detains 22 Indians Over Cocaine Shipment

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded a major breakthrough in its nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking, intercepting illicit substances concealed in coffee sachets and arresting 22 Indian nationals linked to a large cocaine seizure at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

Operatives of the agency intercepted consignments of ketamine, ecstasy and tramadol pills hidden inside sachets of coffee mix and parcels of books destined for Zambia and the United Kingdom. The seizures were made at a courier facility in Lagos on December 24 and 29, 2025.

In a related operation, NDLEA officers arrested the entire crew of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya, after 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine were discovered in Hatch 3 of the ship at the GDNL terminal, Apapa last Friday . The vessel had arrived from the Marshall Islands.

Those taken into custody include the ship’s master, Sharma Shashi Bhushan, and 21 other Indian crew members, all of whom are being investigated for their alleged roles in the trafficking attempt.

Meanwhile, in Oyo State, NDLEA operatives arrested a notorious female drug dealer, 65-year-old Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, following an intelligence-led operation in Ibadan. The suspect, described as a major distributor of illicit drugs in the state, was apprehended on December 29, 2025, alongside another woman, Olusanya Abosede, 35. The arrest followed the seizure of 238.4 kilogrammes of skunk linked to the drug network.

In Borno State, the agency disrupted supply routes feeding illicit drugs to insurgents with the arrest of two suspects and the seizure of large quantities of tramadol.

A suspect, Isa Mohammed, 26, was arrested along the Maiduguri–Gamboru Ngala road with 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection, while Musa Samaila, 30, was nabbed at Biu market with 34,000 tramadol capsules on the same day.

The spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said additional seizures were recorded across several states. He said in Lagos, operatives recovered about 400 kilogrammes of skunk and a van at the Mobolaji Johnson area on New Year’s Day. In Jigawa State, a suspect, Bilya Ibrahim, 39, was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia while attempting to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8 kilogrammes from Taraba State to Yobe State.

In Kwara State, NDLEA officers recovered 238.5 kilogrammes of skunk from a suspect’s residence in the Asadam area of Ilorin. Another suspect, Abubakar Rabiu, 32, was arrested at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area with 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam last Wednesday.

Babafemi noted that beyond enforcement operations, the agency intensified its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns during the week, reaching schools, youth groups, worship centres and communities in states including Katsina, Lagos and Niger.

Commending the officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (rtd), urged commands nationwide to sustain and strengthen the agency’s drug control efforts.

NDLEA Intercepts Drugs Hidden in Coffee Sachets, Detains 22 Indians Over Cocaine Shipment