Police arrest five IPOB/ESN terrorist suspects in Imo

By: Zagazola Makama

The Police Command has arrested five suspected members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).

Sources confirmed the arrest to Zagazola, saying that the suspects were arrested in Imo and Rivers States following intelligence-led operations.

The sources said the operation was carried out by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit, sequel to the confession of two IPOB/ESN kingpins earlier arrested at the group’s B44 Camp in Ezioha.

According to the sources l, the suspects arrested include; Iwuji Chima, 33, of Ubah Agwa, Oguta LGA, a vigilante operative in Agwa allegedly working for ESN at B44 Camp, Chimezie Uwala, 32, of Ubah Agwa, Oguta LGA, described as an accomplice, Kingsley Melete, 51, of Ubah Agwa, Oguta LGA, a vigilante coordinator also accused of working with B44, Chinemere Nwoke, 24, of Obudi Agwa, Oguta LGA, alleged brother of a wanted ESN commander known as Charles, Ogochukwu Nwoke, 30, wife of the said commander Charles, currently at large.

Sources said the arrests followed tracking operations that began at Elele in Rivers State around 1:15 a.m. on Sept. 20, and continued in Agwa, Oguta LGA, Imo, at about 4:50 a.m.

Sources said the arrested kingpins confessed to their terrorism activities aimed at actualising a so-called Biafra Republic.

The sources added that investigations were ongoing to track and apprehend other fleeing members of the group.

Police arrest five IPOB/ESN terrorist suspects in Imo

Gunmen kill one, abduct retired police officer, two women in Sabuwa LGA in Kastina

By: Zagazola Makam

Armed bandits have killed a young man and abducted three persons, including a retired police officer, in Sabuwa Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Zagazola learnt that the incident occurred on Saturday night when the assailants stormed Rafin Wake, a community on the outskirts of Sabuwa town.

Witnesses said the attackers shot 21-year-old Shamsu Sunusi, who was rushed to General Hospital, Sabuwa, but later confirmed dead.

Zagazola reports that the gunmen also kidnapped a retired police officer, Insp. Halilu Umar, 61, and two women identified as Hafsat Salisu, 24, and Nana Abdulaziz, 31, both relatives of Insp. Salisu Muhammad, a serving police officer attached to Sabuwa Division.

Security sources said efforts were underway to track down the perpetrators and rescue the abducted victims.

The development has heightened tension in the area, coming barely few days after community leaders and representatives of armed groups attended a peace accord meeting under Operation Safe Corridor in the same LGA.

Gunmen kill one, abduct retired police officer, two women in Sabuwa LGA in Kastina

Two Brazil returnees excrete 116 wraps of heroin, cocaine in NDLEA custody

…Businesswoman conceals 1.4 kg meth in butt pad underwear

By: Michael Mike

Two Brazil returnees: Ofoma Sunday and Ukachukwu Ikechukwu have excreted a total of 116 wraps of heroin and cocaine they ingested after days in observatory custody following their arrest by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday, said one of the suspects, 46-year-old Ofoma was arrested last Tuesday

at terminal 2 of the Lagos airport upon his arrival from Laos, Brazil on an Ethiopian airlines flight. He was taken for body scan which confirmed ingestion of illicit drugs.

He added that Ofoma had left Nigeria for Brazil on 3rd September to courier the consignment to Lagos for a reward of $2,500 upon successful delivery.

He said a swift follow-up operation was conducted at Eliata Hotel in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos where Ofoma was instructed to meet Nweke Chuckwudi who was designated to oversee the excretion of the drugs at the hotel and recover them. The 55-year-old Nweke was arrested in the process. A total of 111 wraps of heroin weighing 1.452 kilogrammes were egested in eight excretions by Ofoma.

Babafemi said similarly, another Brazil returnee Ukachukwu Ikechukwu, was arrested at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Ethiopian Airlines passengers from Brazil via Addis Ababa last Friday. He was taken for body scan which confirmed illicit drug insertion, and under excretion observation, he expelled five big wraps of cocaine weighing 145 grammes.

Ikechukwu in his statement, confessed to have bought nine wraps of the class A drug in Brazil and inserted all into his anus, a process he claimed took him nearly two hours.

He was said to have stated that during his transit through Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, he began to experience severe anal pain and decided to remove the wraps from his body. He stated that in an attempt to meet up with his connecting flight to Nigeria, he could only manage to reinsert seven wraps, after which he flushed the remaining two wraps in a toilet.

The suspect revealed that while on board his flight to Nigeria, he felt pressed and uncomfortable, which compelled him to use the lavatory. During the process, he expelled an additional two wraps, leaving him with only five wraps in his anus. He claimed to have been into clothing business before traveling to Brazil in 2017, adding that in 2020, he moved to the United States, where he was arrested for immigration offence and was detained for over a year before being deported to Nigeria in 2022.

He added that in March 2025, he returned to Brazil, where he currently works, having already obtained a Brazilian residence permit.

A businesswoman Okolonkwo Ebere was on Sunday 14th September taken into custody after Aviation Security Officers of FAAN in collaboration with NDLEA operatives attached to the screening point of terminal 2 of the Lagos airport arrested her for concealing illicit drug in her underwear while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Doha, Qatar.

Babafemi said after a thorough search, two big parcels of white crystalline substance that later tested positive to methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1.4 kilogrammes businessman recovered from her butt pad underwear.

He said during preliminary interrogation, she claimed she trades in used clothing and also operates a POS business in Enugu where she was recruited into the illicit drug business.

At the NAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives last Monday intercepted a consignment of food items used to conceal 40 wraps of methamphetamine with a total weight of 2.3 kilogrammes heading to Hong Kong via Turkish Airlines. A 59-year-old suspect, Umelo Ifeanyi, who presented the consignment as part of a consolidated cargo, has been taken into custody.

Another consignment of illicit drug packaged for Europe was intercepted by NDLEA operatives at a courier company in Lagos last Thursday. During a thorough examination of the shipment, seven pieces of phone charger going to New Zealand were found to contain 257 grammes of cocaine.

In Adamawa, no fewer than 233,800 pills of tramadol were recovered by NDLEA operatives in three raids with two suspects arrested in parts of the state. A total of 195,600 pills of the opioid were recovered from an abandoned Toyota Sienna vehicle in Mayo Belwa area of Yola South last Wednesday, while a suspect Rita Zira was nabbed in Jambutu area of Jimeta Yola with 27,900 pills of tramadol discovered in her bedroom. Another suspect, Halilu Abubakar, 22, was arrested with 10,300 pills of same substance by NDLEA officers at Namtari checkpoint, Yola on Saturday.

Babafemi said no less than 109 bags of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1,099.4 kilogrammes were seized from a suspect Hammed Aliyu, 40, by NDLEA operatives supported by members of the Community Protection Guards (CPG) along Gummi-Daki Takwas road, Zamfara state while conveying the consignment in a Mitsubishi Canter truck marked LRN 568XB to a village called Company in Gummi local government area on Saturday.

He said two suspects: Babangida Usman and Ismail Ibrahim were arrested with 14,000 capsules of tramadol along Damaturu-Potiskum road, Yobe state, and NDLEA operatives in Taraba last Wednesday nabbed Anas Hamisu, 28, with three sacks of skunk that weighed 25.525 kilogrammes, at Garba-Chede, Bali local government area.

In Edo state, two cannabis farms on 4.532025 hectares located at Atororo forest in Owan West local government area with an estimated yield of 11,330.0625 kilogrammes were last Wednesday destroyed by NDLEA officers who also recovered eleven bags of processed skunk and seeds weighing 148 kilogrammes. Suspects arrested at the plantations include: Mathew Onoja, 56; Moses Thomas Male, 18; and Friday Uchenjin, 38.

He noted that with the same vigour, commands and formations of the agrncy 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, DOGI, Adamawa, Zamfara, Edo, Taraba, and Yobe commands for the various successful operations, said: “These arrests and seizures represent a significant milestone in our determined effort to dismantle drug trafficking organisations operating in Nigeria and around the world, prioritizing those bent on targeting our productive youth population with illicit substances until they’re no longer able to inflict harm on our communities or misrepresent our country’s image in the global space.”

He however enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.

Two Brazil returnees excrete 116 wraps of heroin, cocaine in NDLEA custody