Category: Crime

ALSO, about a 2.3million tablets of illicit pharmaceutical opioids and other psychoactive substances are meant for distribution in seven Northern states of Borno, Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe and Nasarawa have been intercepted by NDLEA’s operatives in series of interdiction operations in the past week.

In all, a total of  2.32 million tablets and capsules of tramadol, pregabalin, hypnox, diazepam and exol-5 including 7, 353 bottles of a new psychoactive substance locally called Akuskura, meant for the seven states were seized from locations across Kaduna, Kogi, Sokoto, and the Federal Capital Territory  (FCT).

In Kaduna State, a drug dealer Umar Sanusi was arrested on Friday, August 12, during a follow-up operation in Kano and brought back to Kaduna where his consignment of 50 cartons of pregabalin 300mg, containing 750,000 capsules, weighing 375kgs, earlier seized along Abuja-Kaduna expressway was counted and weighed in his presence.

The same day, operatives also intercepted along Abuja-Kaduna express road 7,068 bottles of a new dangerous substance of abuse called Akuskura meant for Kaduna, Zamfara, Gombe, Kano and Borno.

The recipients were arrested in Kaduna and Zamfara during follow-up operations. The following day, Saturday,  August 13, 285 bottles of the NPS were recovered from a dealer, Abubakar Ahmad, along the same highway.

In Kogi State, about 696,000 tablets of tramadol and exol-5 among others loaded into a truck at Onitsha, Anambra State and heading to Maiduguri, Borno State, were seized along Okene-Abuja Expressway on Friday, August 19, while NDLEA operatives also recovered 300,000 tablets of diazepam from a suspect, Faruku Bello, 30, in Sokoto State on Wednesday, August 17.

Also, anti-narcotic officers of the agency in Abuja, FCT at the weekend, equally intercepted a bus loaded with 323, 200 tablets of tramadol 225mg and others at Onitsha, Anambra State heading to Nasarawa State. The driver of the vehicle, Osita Nwobodo, 45, who made fruitless bids to compromise the operatives have also been arrested.

A freight agent, Miss Njoko Elizabeth, 37, was also arrested for attempting to export 250grammes of tramadol and cannabis to Dubai through the NAHCO export shed.

The drug exhibits were concealed inside some gallons of palm oil and honey, which were packed among food items and hair attachments.

Also at the Lagos airport, 249,600 tablets of tramadol 225mg have been recovered from a shipment from India at Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) import shed of the MMIA.

The consignment, which arrived from India via Addis Ababa on an Ethiopian Airline flight on August 4 was eventually evacuated on Wednesday, August 17 as an abandoned seizure.
SIMILARLY, an Italy-bound passenger, Oziengbe Ehighalua Andrew, 55, was on Friday, August 19, arrested with 600 grammes of tramadol 200mg, while attempting to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Italy, via Casablanca.

In the same vein, seven cartons of khat leaf with a total weight of 295kg have been seized at the NAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport. The consignment came into Nigeria from Tanzania through Cairo on Egypt Air.

Operatives of the Directorate of Operation and General Investigation (DOGI), in NDLEA, attached to courier firms have intercepted 11.36kg heroin and cannabis packaged for UAE, Netherlands and Omar. The drugs were concealed in dictionaries, fancy light and body cream.

In Niger State, 139 bags and 176 compressed blocks of cannabis loaded in Ogere, Ogun State and heading to Zaria, Kaduna State were seized by NDLEA operatives along Abuja-Kaduna road, Suleja, from a company vehicle while the driver, Sani Mohammed, 44, and his assistant, Abubakar Abubakar, 30, were arrested.

Also, raids carried out in Akala, Mushin area of Lagos also led to the arrest of Pelumi Goodness and Ola Funke, while over 1,171.75kg cannabis and 29 litres of codeine syrup were recovered.

There was pandemonium in Oruku Community in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State as gunmen on Saturday killed the President-General of the Town Union, Chief Linus Nwatu.

His murder made it eight prominent residents of the Community that have been killed by gunmen suspected to be cultists used during a communal war with neighbouring community, Umuode.A community source said that Chief Nwatu, a retired police officer, was shot dead in the early morning of Saturday by gunmen who broke into his house where he resided with his family members after his retirement from Nigeria Police some years back.

The source regretted that the President-General was killed on a day that the community had scheduled to bury a member of the town’s neighbourhood watch, Mr. Dennis Ike (a.k.a Peace), who was shot dead by gunmen in the town on June 6, 2022.

It was reported how the gunmen ambushed and killed Ike, who was riding motorcycle at the time.

The hoodlums had after killing him set his corpse and motorbike ablaze before proceeding to torch houses of some persons in community that fateful day.

A Community source told our correspondent that the gunmen, apparently on a mission to forestall the burial of the slain Ike slated for today (Saturday), stormed the compound of the president-general (Nwatu) and murdered him in cold-blood this morning.

The source, who spoke on anonymity, said the attack on Nwatu was not unconnected with his role in the lingering communal conflict in Oruku, which the Enugu state government has failed to resolve over the years.

The traditional ruler of Oruku community, Igwe Emmanuel Mbah and several natives had been murdered by hoodlums loyal to a faction in the communal dispute from December 2020 till date. The traditional ruler was assassinated on December 26, 2020 and his killers are yet to be brought to book.

The assassination later sparked a disorder that caused destruction of lives and property in the community prompting Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to institute a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate Mbah’s killing.

The murdered Town Union President, Chief Nwatu, had alleged while testifying before the commission that “23 collaborators and sponsors were fueling cultist activities in Oruku” to destroy lives and property.

He had urged the commission headed by Justice Harold Eya to look into the names listed in his memorandum as the masterminds of Oruku crisis and bring them to book.

The Justice Harold Eya panel had since submitted its findings to Governor Ugwuanyi but the government has yet to make the report public and take necessary steps to restore lasting peace in the area.

As a result, many natives who deserted the community following series of attacks and arson, have not returned to their homes while those who remained in Oruku and neigbouring towns have continued to exist in fear though security operatives conduct patrol activities in the area periodically.

Another community source told our correspondent while lamenting incessant killing of members of the community by people whose identities were known while the government pay no attention, said eight leaders of the community have been killed by the same gang.

The source gave the names of those killed in less than two years as “Igwe Emmanuel Mba, Hon. Linus Nwatu, Mr. Samuel Ani, Mr. Okechukwu Ogbodo, Mr. Calistus Amushi, Mr. Dennis Ike, Mr. Zik Mba and Mr. Okenwa Mbah.

“Their killers have vowed to kill us all and the government is doing nothing about it. The governor deceived us that he was making peace and abandoned us to be extinguished by Raymond Okenwa, Moses Nnamani and others.”

Meanwhile, efforts to get reaction of the Enugu State Police Command were unsuccesful as the Command’s spokesman, Daniel Ndukwe could not be reached as the phone was switched off.

PUNCH

As political campaigns and the 2023 general elections draw near in the face of festering insecurity in most parts of the country, the police have confirmed that there is a surge in the request for protection by politicians.

With campaigns for presidential and National Assembly elections commencing on September 28 and the general elections starting on February 25, the police noted that more applications were being received and more still were being expected, but pointed out that not every application would be granted.The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, in an interview explained that certain persons were by virtue of their statuses and personalities entitled to police protection, but that despite the spike in the requests, the police would consider each application on its merit and continuously work towards general security for public safety.

The Force PRO said it might be difficult to state the number of requests for police protection received so far but that the surge might not be unconnected with the upcoming campaigns and the 2023 elections.

“I don’t have the statistics for now because the requests will continue to come from various angles to the office of the IG, but generally there is an increase because most of the new candidates would want to have police protection. I know there is an increase, especially now that they will commence their campaigns very soon,” Adejobi stated.

‘Approval not automatic’

Asked if every presidential and governorship candidate would be entitled to police protection, Adejobi said, “It is not automatic. It depends on your personality, your status and the threat analysis conducted on you and if you are prone to any attack. It’s not for every Tom, Dick and Harry. It is not statutory that every candidate must get police protection.

“There are some individuals who are officially entitled to police protection and this is not negotiable. However, we still have some VIPs, who are to be protected by virtue of their personalities and statuses, which make them vulnerable or prone to attacks. Hence, we are duty-bound to provide security around them.

“Be reminded that this security arrangement is indirectly a sort of general security for them, people around them and their communities. So, the protection around them doesn’t affect our efficiency and quality service delivery in any way.”

When asked the number of policemen currently on special protection duty, Adejobi said, “No specific number of applications or men detailed to politicians. We have been receiving applications for police escort and guard on a regular basis even before we commenced the electioneering, and we will continue to receive applications, but we will be attending to them on their merit. No automatic approvals for applications or applicants as the case may be.

“We definitely expect to have more applications from politicians since the election activities have commenced, but we tend to intensify our security networking in terms of general security and public safety rather than individual protection. Hence, we are working towards the general security and public safety of Nigeria and Nigerians.”

Three persons, including a soldier, were reportedly killed, Wednesday, when gunmen clashed with soldiers in Ohafia, Abia State.

This is as the Senate Chief Whip and Senator representing Abia North, Orji Kalu, who was on a visit to Ohafia at the time of the incident, allegedly fled the town in the ensuing confusion.There were however, different versions of what actually happened, as some reports say the former governor was chased out of Ohafia by the gunmen.

But a source close to him dismissed the version as a ruse, saying he was never chased out of the town by anybody.

Senator Kalu had gone to Ohafia in continuation of his ward-to-ward tour of the zone when the incident happened.

According to one of the versions, the senator had allegedly been warned by the gunmen to stay away from Ohafia in his political engagements.They said there was a bottled-up anger against him for his alleged passive attitude towards the plight of the zone that has come under intense attack by bandits suspected to be herdsmen.

It was also alleged that some of his constituents are not happy the way the Senator was allegedly championing causes like the Muslim-Muslim ticket, and Northern presidency, instead of showing similar concern over the threat of insecurity in the zone.

Sources said that when the Senator decided to visit Ohafia, gunmen apparently feeling dared, stormed the venue of his visit and started shooting into the air.“It was said that the Senator and his entourage scampered for safety and allegedly fled to the Headquarters of 14 Brigade Nigeria Army for protection.

Local sources further said that the gunmen later blocked Asaga junction apparently to ambush the former Governor on his way out of Ohafia before they were allegedly engaged in a gun duel with soldiers escorting him back to his Igbere Community.

Two persons were reportedly killed during the ensuing gun duel.
When contacted, one of his Media Aides, Mr Ken said he did not need to talk to our Correspondent and switched off his phone.“But another close ally of Kalu said that the former governor was not the target of the gunmen, denying that he was chased out of Ohafia.

Kalu’s ally who pleaded for anonymity rather explained that the Senate Chief Whip and his entourage had visited some communities in Ohafia including Okon and Amangwu before coming to Ebem without any hitches.

He said that the Senator was holding meeting with his Ebem hosts when the gunmen stormed the venue and said they did not want to have politicians holding any political gathering in the area.

According to him, when they were told it was Senator Kalu, they retreated and said he could carry on with his programme.

” But unfortunately, I don’t know the issue they had with a soldier when they left the place that resulted into a quarrel between them and soldiers.

” Even when Senator Kalu was going, some of the boys were hailing him. Nobody chased him out of Ohafia. It was a pure lie.”

When contacted, a source close to the 14 Brigade Nigeria Army told our Correspondent that the Senator did not run to the barracks for any reason.

The source which pleaded for anonymity said that the gunmen were actually in town on Wednesday when a soldier went to town to shop and was attacked by them.

” They were in town when a soldier came to buy something and they identified him and matcheted him. Soldiers went on a rescue operation following a distress call, and discovered that the soldier had been matcheted to the ground. But the soldiers were able to kill two of the hoodlums. “The source, however, said that normalcy had returned to the town.

The Anambra State Police Command have arrested  a four-man suspected syndicate comprising two males and two females who specialised in sex blackmail and extortion of money from their victims.

DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists in Awka on Thursday.

Ikenga said the gang specialised in taking nude pictures of victims and threaten to post them online unless they paid money.

The PPRO gave the names of the suspects as; Okechukwu Ogoejiofor, 36, Nonso Nwizu, 34, Esther Nwafor lfeanyichukwu, 21 and Obianuju Nduba, 20.

He said the victims were arrested at Ajakpani village, Umunya in Oyi Local Government Area for alleged conspiracy, demanding with menaces and stealing.

The PPRO said the suspects used social media to lure their unsuspecting male victims into fake love/friendship affairs and thereafter took them to a room where they engage them in foreplay.

According to him, Obianuju Nduba engaged the victim in a foreplay while other members of the gang force themselves into the room.

“They took nude pictures and videos of the victims, which they use to force the victims into transferring huge sums of money to them.

“They usually threaten to publish the nude pictures and videos on social media if the victims fail to comply and also dispossess the individual of his personal belongings,” Ikenga stated.

The PPRO said the case shall be charged to court once investigations are concluded.

He quoted the Commissioner of Police, Mr Echeng Echeng to have warned members of the public to be wary of the activities of criminal elements who have taken their trade to social media.

Angry Villagers in Mariri community of Lere local government of Kaduna State have lynched a woman identified as Hajiya Bilkisu after it was discovered that the seven people in her house were bandits.

The villagers descended on her as she was trying to escape following the arrest of the seven suspected bandits by troops of Operation Safe Haven.

The  Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs,Samuel Aruwan, stated this  in a statement issued in Kaduna.

Aruwan listed alleged arrested bandits as: Musa Adamu, Abdullahi Usman, Suleiman Hasidu, Usman Jibril, Saidu Isah, Hassan Abdulhamid and Idris Sani

He said the arrests are the result of sustained intelligence gathering.

His statement reads in parts: “Security agencies have reported to the Kaduna State Government that seven suspected bandits have been arrested in Mariri community of Lere local government area.

“One Hajiya Bilkisu, a suspected accomplice who had been housing the arrested persons, was unfortunately lynched by members of the community as she tried to escape.

“The Kaduna State Government noted the report with satisfaction and commended the troops for their prompt action on credible intelligence gathered.

“The Government urged security agencies to ensure a thorough investigation of the suspects.

“Furthermore, the Kaduna State Government appealed to citizens to avoid all forms of jungle justice, and to give security agencies the needed cooperation to work in line with the dictates of the law.”