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Scavenging Outlawed on Abuja streets, activities restricted to dumpsites

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Scavenging Outlawed on Abuja streets, activities restricted to dumpsites

By: Michael Mike

Scavengers activities have been restricted in and around the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to dumpsites as they have been warned against moving around either during the day or at night in the city.

The present ban followed the criminal activities of some scavengers popularly known as ‘baba nbolas’ in the area.

They have been alleged to be involved in carting away critical infrastructure especially manholes from the expressways in the city.

Parading 36 scavengers who were arrested with dangerous weapons and vandalized items, the Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command, Dr Olusola Odumosu, said scavengers who roam the streets of FCT, indiscriminately, perpetrate all forms of criminal activities under the guise of scavenging.

According to him, the move by the FCT Administration was necessitated by the need to nip vandalism of public infrastructure such as manhole covers, streetlights, solar panels, armoured cables, and so on, in the bud.

Items recovered from the 36 suspects include four daggers, three jack knives, two chisels, three knives, two pinches and 10 bottles of codeine syrup.

Others are 45 wraps of indian hemps, thrash bags, pieces of iron rods and narcotic drugs.

The scavengers, he explained, go about the nooks and crannies of the city and satellite towns; house-to-house, estate-to-estate, scavenging for plastics, scrap metals and irons.

He said: “But from previous arrests, interrogations and investigations, we have realised that their real business is to vandalise and remove our road infrastructure such as: manhole covers, flood drain covers, streetlights, armoured cables, rail sleepers, iron rods for bridge enforcement and the likes, which would fetch them good money.

“The public also needs to know that some ‘Baba Nbolas’ now disguise to rob innocent commuters and bystanders as they go about with dangerous weapons to attack and disposes them of their personal belongings especially at night. Our record shows that many who dared to challenge them in the past had met their untimely deaths while others are maimed in various parts of the Federal Capital Territory” he said.

Many residents of the FCT and environs, Odumosu noted, have experienced sudden disappearances of many of their household items like generators, cooking pots, stoves, pressing iron, air conditioners, compressors, car batteries, security light panels, iron drain covers and so on.

“Scavengers are major suspects to most of such disappearances and they carry out these activities whenever they notice that there is no one in sight, but not without wielding dangerous weapons in case they are busted by the house owners.

“The most vital is that many of them work as informants for armed robbers, kidnappers, hired assassins, terrorists, bandits a#nd all sorts of criminal gangs. Many families have fallen victims of kidnapping, abduction for ransom, murder, assassination and the likes because they give information about your family, the number of children you have, the types of cars you drive, where you work and by extension, keeping tabs on your movement.

“They (baba nbola) also assess and profile you through the kind of household waste products you dispose which, in most cases, reveal your status and lifestyles.

Unfortunately, and in most cases, many of us perceive these miscreants and criminals as ordinary innocent, poor Nigerians, hustling for their daily bread so they move about unchecked and unquestioned by anyone, some of us even sympathise with them, by extending alms to them, whereas, they are responsible for the various crimes happening around you.

“Owing to these revelation and credible intelligence at our disposal, it is therefore imperative that citizens and residents join hands with the corps and other security agencies to flush out these dangerous elements in the FCT by chasing scavengers away whenever you see them in front of your houses, your streets, neighbourhood or estates.

“The public should note that, although, they appear innocent, armless and vulnerable, most of them are extremely dangerous, their activities are criminal in nature and they constitute threats not only to the safety and security of lives, property and infrastructure in the FCT but to Nigeria’s national security architecture as a whole” he noted.

The commandant used the occasion to advise FCT residents to dispose their refuse properly and stop patronising the Baba Nbolas for the sake of their own safety and that of their family members.

Scavenging Outlawed on Abuja streets, activities restricted to dumpsites

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Troops detect, detonate IED along Ngoshe–Pulka road in Borno

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Troops detect, detonate IED along Ngoshe–Pulka road in Borno

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team of 82 Division Task Force Battalion have successfully detected and detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) along a major supply route in Gwoza LGA of Borno State.

Security sources said the device was discovered at about 9:42 a.m. on March 22 during a routine scan of the Main Supply Route (MSR) between PAPA 4 and PAPA 5 along the Ngoshe–Pulka road.

The IED, suspected to have been planted by terrorists to target troops and commuters, was safely recovered and detonated in situ by the EOD team without causing any casualties.

Military sources said the operation was part of ongoing counter-IED measures aimed at ensuring the safety of movement along critical routes in the North-East.

Residents and road users have been urged to remain vigilant and report any suspicious objects or activities to security agencies for prompt action.

Troops detect, detonate IED along Ngoshe–Pulka road in Borno

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ISWAP cleric threatens attack on Malam Fatori, after humiliating defeat, troops urged to remain alert

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ISWAP cleric threatens attack on Malam Fatori, after humiliating defeat, troops urged to remain alert

By: Zagazola Makama

A suspected ISWAP cleric has issued threats of a possible attack on Malam Fatori following the recent neutralization of 75 terrorists in a failed attack on March 18 2026.

According to intelligence sources, the cleric, who reportedly led this year Eid Fitr prayers in a location near Sabon Tumbu, warned during his sermon that the group would soon retaliate against Nigerian troops for operations carried out in Malam Fatori.

The source said the cleric specifically threatened that the town could be “reduced to ashes” in a reprisal attack, stressing that such statements by insurgents should not be dismissed as mere rhetoric.

Sources noted that past experiences have shown that insurgent groups often act on their threats, urging troops deployed in Malam Fatori to remain on high alert and adequately equipped to counter any potential assault.

They also warned that the insurgents could deploy heavy firepower and adopt tactics such as coordinated assaults and the use of vehicle-borne explosive devices in any attempted attack.

Malam Fatori has for long been described as the town as a long-standing stronghold of military resistance against terrorist elements. The town has, over the years, witnessed decisive military victories against ISWAP fighters, nick named the “Grave Yard of ISWAP” and earning a REPUTATION as a difficult terrain for insurgents to operate.

The troops of the Armed Forces, supported by other security agencies, remain on high alert and have continued to fortify defensive positions in anticipation of any attempted incursion.

According to the sources, intelligence and surveillance have been intensified, while logistics and operational readiness have been enhanced to ensure that any threat is decisively neutralised.

“Experience has shown that insurgents often suffer heavy losses whenever they attempt to attack well-defended positions like Malam Fatori,” the source said.

ISWAP cleric threatens attack on Malam Fatori, after humiliating defeat, troops urged to remain alert

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Baban Chinedu says Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo is a former Armed robber now turned crises entrepreneur

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Baban Chinedu says Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo is a former Armed robber now turned crises entrepreneur

By: Zagazola Makama

Sheikh Yusuf Haruna Baban Chinedu, popularly known as Baban Chinedu, has launched a scathing and evidence-based attack on controversial Plateau pastor Ezekiel Dachomo in a viral video, accusing him of being a former armed robber and a liar who fabricated stories about meeting Jesus after a 1980 bank robbery in Jos.

Baban Chinedu declared: “Ezekiel Dachomo isn’t just someone seen in a photo with a bandit; no, he is the bandit! … Ezekiel committed armed robbery. We have records on him from 1976, from ’76 to sometime after 2000. … This man is a hardened armed robber.”

He played a clip of Dachomo admitting: “Because I went in 1980 is our gang that robbed a bank in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria. 1980, they make away with a lot of money. It was my best friend that led the operation.” Baban Chinedu challenged: “Praise be to God, I hope you all heard the statement this man made. … He is lying! I want you to listen and know that first of all, this man is a complete hypocrite and a total liar. I swear, it was a gun that shot them! Angels? He claims Jesus came down with seven angels who struck them and killed fourteen people while he hid in the blood? You see, even the angels God sent down… only managed to kill fourteen people and lost track of where that one man was?”

The sheikh alleged Dachomo hid among corpses and was rescued by a gang member named Emmanuel, not Jesus: “He was begging Jesus for God’s sake to forgive him and spare his life. He claims that was where he met Jesus… By Allah, he is lying! … It was a gun that shot them! No Jesus descended there; he is lying to you.” He added: “A lady told me; she heard him when he was shot, and he still has the scar from that wound on his left side. … He is lying! At that time, it was the police, Nigerian security agents, Nigeria Police MOPOL who she said shot them.”

Baban Chinedu accused Dachomo of transitioning from “practical, street-level bandit” to “spiritual bandit” and inciting religious conflict: “The armed bandits of the past are the ones who transformed into these kidnappers. … All those who are making these plans are your boys… You’re insulting her religion, she told us the truth about everything that happened… You are a robber, and the government should investigate you; you’re behind all of this.”

He challenged Dachomo to court: “Ezekiel, I, Yusuf Haruna Baban Chinedu, challenge you: if you know there’s any falsehood in what’s being said about you, take it to court.” The sheikh demanded investigation: “We want the government if possible to investigate this man, I swear to God he’s an armed robber… By Allah, the government should know that Ezekiel is involved in this. Let him tell you the names of those he robbed with.”

The viral video has ignited fierce online reactions, with many praising Baban Chinedu’s evidence-based approach while others condemn the personal attacks on Dachomo, intensifying Nigeria’s ongoing religious and ethnic tensions occasioned by US recent remarks on Christians genocide propaganda. Watch the video in the comment section.

Baban Chinedu says Pastor Ezekiel Dachomo is a former Armed robber now turned crises entrepreneur

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