News
Seven youths killed at mining site in Jos South, in retaliation of 102 livestock theft
Seven youths killed at mining site in Jos South, in retaliation of 102 livestock theft
By: Zagazola Makama
Atleast seven youths have been killed at a Tin mining site in Gakok area of Kuru community, Barikin Ladi in Jos South LGA of Plateau State in response to the attack and theft of 102 livestock belonging to pastoralist.
On Wednesday, gunmen struck at dawn in Gakok, mowing down young men who had gone to earn a living at a legal mining site. The Plateau Youth Council (PYC), Jos South LGA Chapter, described the victims as “hardworking youths” whose lives were “brutally cut short” by suspected armed herdsmen.
In a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Comr. Gyang Sunday Pwajok on Thursday, the council described the incident as “gruesome and senseless,” and blamed suspected armed herdsmen for the attack.
“This tragic incident further deepens the pain, fear and anger of our people, as Plateau State continues to witness an unending cycle of orchestrated violence and bloodshed. The persistent wave of killings is deeply disturbing and unacceptable,” the statement read.
Their statement did more than mourn: it demanded urgent regulation of mining sites, stronger security coordination, and a ban on night mining, recognition that poorly governed spaces have become killing fields.
The brutal killing was the latest in a spiral of violence in plateau in what began as disputes over land and livelihoods has metastasized into a tit-for-tat pattern where cattle rustling, livestock poisoning and armed raids trigger swift reprisals, dragging entire communities into a vortex of fear. Gakok attack did not erupt in isolation. It is the tragic crest of a wave that has been rising across the Barkin Ladi–Riyom–Jos South axis for weeks.
The current escalation tracks back to Wednesday, Jan. 14, when no fewer than 102 cows were rustled at Dan Sokoto in Ganawuri District, Riyom LGA. Witnesses said armed men suspected to be Berom Militia stormed the area in broad daylight, forcing herders to flee and driving the cattle away at gunpoint. The animals reportedly belonged to two pastoral families from Jos East, but were seized in Ganawuri, an inter-LGA fault line that complicated response and recovery.
Local accounts allege the attackers came from Vom District in Jos South. The Dan Sokoto raid was not an aberration. In the same month, at least seven cows were poisoned in Kwi village (Riyom LGA), while three others were shot dead near Kuru Gadabiyu in Barkin Ladi. Each incident deepened attacks and retaliation.
Days after the Dan Sokoto rustling, violence crossed from fields to homes. In the early hours of Saturday, at about 2:30 a.m., gunmen attacked Kasuwa Denkeli village in Barkin Ladi LGA. One person was killed on the spot; two others sustained gunshot wounds and were rushed to the Jos University Teaching Hospital. Police confirmed the incident, said a team led by the DPO moved to the scene, and announced an investigation to track the perpetrators.Residents linked the assault to retaliation over the stolen cattle in neighbouring Riyom.
This pattern attack on herds, reprisal on villages has repeated with grim regularity. On Jan. 6, coordinated attacks on Jol community in Riyom and Gero in Gyel District of Jos South left three people dead. The violence followed the shooting of two Fulani youths earlier that day in Jos South, one of whom later died. Witnesses described the ambush as unprovoked. What followed was swift retaliation and counter-retaliation, with communities caught in the crossfire.
The warning signs were already flashing in December. On Dec. 12, more than 130 cattle were reportedly rustled in Nding community. Around the same period, livestock poisoning was recorded in parts of Jos East and Riyom LGAs. Those incidents were followed by deadly clashes, including the killing of four children in Dorong village, Barkin Ladi LGA, and attacks on Gero that left deaths, injuries and the loss of more livestock.
On Dec. 16, an attack on an illegal mining site in Tosho, Barkin Ladi LGA, left 12 miners dead and others abducted. Security sources linked the violence to earlier rustling of 171 cattle belonging to Fulani. Again, a familiar sequence: cattle taken, emotions inflamed, guns answer.
Across Barkin Ladi, Riyom and Jos South, residents now speak of “no-go” zones. Areas like Vwang in Jos South and parts of Fan District in Barkin Ladi are whispered about as holding grounds for rustled cattle belonging to the Fulani.The claims, wether true or not, reinforce suspicion and hinder cooperation. Recovery becomes harder; rumours spread faster than facts.
Security agencies respond to each incident, but the terrain is complex, in most cases lacked accessibility by roads. Attackers move across forested LGA lines; victims come from multiple communities; reprisals target the nearest symbol of “the other.” Investigations start, but arrests lag. In the absence of swift, impartial justice, communities seek their own.
The through-line is unmistakable: attacks on pastoralist livelihoods ignite attacks on lives. Cattle rustling and poisoning are not isolated crimes. The perpetrators are known and they came from within the society and they are the accelerants in the landscape primed for reprisal. Mining sites, when left unregulated, become flashpoints. Each incident becomes the justification for the next.
The plateau state government had remained largely silent while violence continued to claim lives across Jos South, Riyom and Barkin Ladi LGAs and other part of the state. The government is treating dialogue with Fulani communities as “selling out,” rather than as a necessary step toward de-escalation and peace-building. Instead of opening channels of communication and trust, the government has chosen silence and dangerous political games.
Non-kinetic approaches such as inclusive dialogue, reconciliation, intelligence-driven community policing and traditional conflict-resolution mechanisms were essential to breaking the cycle of attacks and reprisals in the state. The continued reliance on force alone, without parallel political and social engagement, had failed to address the root causes of the crisis, deepen suspicion and prolong the violence in Plateau state.
Zagazola Makama is a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region.
Seven youths killed at mining site in Jos South, in retaliation of 102 livestock theft
Hamza Suleiman NAN: Troops recover ammunition during patrol in Borno
By: Zagazola Makama
Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have recovered a cache of ammunition during a fighting patrol in Mallam Fatori, Abadam Local Government Area of Borno State.
Security sources said the operation was conducted at about 7:30 a.m. on April 18 by troops of 68 Battalion deployed in the area.
The patrol was carried out ahead of the troops’ defensive location toward a suspected withdrawal route used by insurgents following an earlier attack on March 18.
During the operation, troops recovered 166 rounds of PKT linked ammunition and one bandolier.
No contact was made with any terrorist elements during the patrol.
They added that the general security situation across the theatre remains calm but unpredictable, while troops continue to maintain high morale and operational effectiveness.
Hamza Suleiman NAN: Troops recover ammunition during patrol in Borno
News
NDLEA Busts Drug Rings, Intercepts Cocaine Hidden in Food Flasks, Arrests Fashion Designer, Others
NDLEA Busts Drug Rings, Intercepts Cocaine Hidden in Food Flasks, Arrests Fashion Designer, Others
By: Michael Mike
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intensified their crackdown on drug trafficking networks, intercepting cocaine ingeniously concealed in food flasks and cannabis hidden in snack packs, while arresting multiple suspects including a Lagos-based fashion designer.
The agency in a statement on Sunday by its spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said 12 large parcels of cocaine weighing 2.8 kilogrammes were uncovered at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Babafemi said the illicit consignment, bound for the United Kingdom via a Virgin Atlantic flight, was discovered in the false bottoms of food flasks on April 9.
He disclosed that two cargo agents—Ama Ufeim, 33, and Ogabi Akorede, 39—were arrested at the point of interception, with subsequent investigations leading to the arrest of the alleged sender, 52-year-old freight forwarder Agoro Moninuola.
In a related operation a day earlier, NDLEA operatives at the airport’s import shed intercepted 2.9 kilogrammes of “Loud,” a potent strain of cannabis, concealed in snack packs arriving from the United States aboard a Delta Air Lines flight.
He noted that initial arrests of cargo clearing agents Animashaun Adetunji and Mercy Oluwasegun paved the way for the apprehension of the consignee, Saheed Adegoke, a 29-year-old fashion designer, who was later tracked and arrested in Ogba, Lagos.
Beyond the airports, NDLEA operations extended across several states with significant seizures recorded. Along the Kaduna-Zaria highway, operatives intercepted a cement-laden trailer transporting 847 kilogrammes of skunk. The driver, Umar Garba Haruna, was taken into custody.
In Cross River State, a joint operation involving NDLEA officers and security personnel led to the destruction of 15,000 kilogrammes of cannabis cultivated on six hectares of farmland in Uwet community, Akamkpa Local Government Area. A suspect, Alice Udoh, 53, was arrested, while 119 kilogrammes of the substance was recovered.
Similarly, in Edo State, operatives raided a cannabis camp in Ovia North East Local Government Area, destroying over 2,281 kilogrammes of the drug and arresting three suspects. Additional arrests were made in Delta State, where over 87 kilogrammes of skunk and cannabis seeds were seized.
In Lagos, NDLEA officers intercepted a shipment of 11,900 tramadol capsules and 400 ampoules of phenobarbital injections along the Mile 2–Badagry expressway, with the consignment reportedly destined for Ghana. A separate raid on a two-storey building in Lagos Island yielded 95.8 kilogrammes of skunk.
Meanwhile, the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign nationwide, conducting sensitization programmes in schools, religious centres, and communities across states including Niger, Cross River, Kogi, Katsina, Kano, and Lagos.
Commending the operatives, NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), praised the balance between aggressive enforcement and preventive education, urging officers to maintain the current momentum in the fight against drug trafficking and abuse.
NDLEA Busts Drug Rings, Intercepts Cocaine Hidden in Food Flasks, Arrests Fashion Designer, Others
Honouring a Fallen Shield
Ashlee Momoh Foundation Leads Heartfelt Tribute to Fallen Hero Brig. Gen. Braimah
A Tribute to Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah
Issued by the Board of Trustees, Management, and Volunteers of the Ashlee Momoh Foundation Abuja, Federal Capital Territory 
To the family of the late Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah
To the Government and People of Edo State, And to the gallant Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
It is with heavy hearts and profound sorrow that the Ashlee Momoh Foundation joins the nation in mourning the loss of Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah, who paid the ultimate price following the midnight attack on the 29 Task Force Brigade Headquarters in Benisheikh. His passing, alongside the brave officers and soldiers who fell beside him, leaves a silence that words can scarcely fill.
A Life Defined by Service
General Braimah was more than a soldier. He was a shield for the vulnerable, a steady hand in moments of crisis, and a living testament to the courage that defines the Nigerian spirit. His leadership inspired those under his command, and his devotion to duty protected countless lives he would never meet. To lose a commander of such calibre, together with his courageous troops, is a grief that travels far beyond the frontlines — into the homes, hearts, and hopes of a grateful nation.
To His Family
We recognise that while the nation mourns a General, you mourn a husband, a father, a son, and the quiet pillar of your home. The cost of service is borne most heavily by those left behind, and no public tribute can ease that private weight. We acknowledge the enormity of your sacrifice. The absence of such a man creates a stillness that only time, faith, and love can gently soften. In this dark hour, please know that you do not grieve alone.
To Edo State and Nigeria
Our nation has lost a strategic mind and a fearless protector. His absence will echo in the ranks of the military and in the hearts of every citizen who has slept soundly because of men like him. His death is a solemn reminder of the ongoing cost of our peace — and of the urgent, continuing duty we all share to honour that price through action, unity, and care for those who stand on the frontlines in our name.
Our Commitment
The Ashlee Momoh Foundation was established on a simple, enduring principle: no hero’s sacrifice should result in the neglect of those they loved. Our mission places military families, widows, and vulnerable communities at the centre of our welfare, advocacy, and humanitarian work. We believe the legacy of men like General Braimah must be honoured not only in the words spoken today, but in tangible support sustained across years — in the education of their children, the dignity of their spouses, and the security of the communities for which they gave everything.We stand for a Nigeria where the blood of our heroes becomes the seed of a more secure and compassionate society. We remain firmly dedicated to strengthening the structures that care for our veterans, their dependents, and the families left in the wake of their service, so that the flame of their sacrifice is never allowed to dim.
A Final Word
May the soul of Brigadier General Oseni Omoh Braimah, and the souls of the gallant soldiers who fell with him, rest in perfect peace. May the Almighty comfort his family, strengthen his comrades-in-arms, and grant our nation the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss — and the resolve to be worthy of his sacrifice.
With deepest sympathy and abiding respect,The Board of Trustees, Management, and Volunteers Ashlee Momoh Foundation Restoring Hope, Rebuilding Lives
Ashlee Momoh Foundation Leads Heartfelt Tribute to Fallen Hero Brig. Gen. Braimah*
Hamza Suleiman NAN: Troops recover ammunition during patrol in Borno
NDLEA Busts Drug Rings, Intercepts Cocaine Hidden in Food Flasks, Arrests Fashion Designer, Others
Again, another Monarch abducted in Kwara state by suspected bandits
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