Metro

Communal Crisis Claims One, Injures Scores In Enugu

Published

6 years ago

April 5, 2020

…Assembly Member Fingered

A communal clash between two villages in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Saturday, April 4, claimed one person while several persons sustained varying degrees of injuries in the crisis.

Accroding to our source, trouble started when youths from a village named Asisi attacked another village named Ishiagu in the night of 3rd of April, over a barricaded road in the community which led to the death 27-year-old man.

Our source said youths from Ishiagu allegedly organised a reprisal, which resulted in injuries of many persons as houses were destroyed in the two villages.

“The problem started when Asisi youths barricaded the road leading to Ishiagu and other villages at the border between Asisi and Ishiagu making it impossible for trucks and bigger vehicles going to other villages to access the road.

“What happened was that, the road in question was constructed by Barr. Peter Mba, who happens to hail from Asisi. Maybe they don’t want other persons to pass through the road, or else how do you describe a situation where the Asisi village youths barricaded the road, just after their village.

“While trucks and bigger vehicles can come to their village, it cannot access other villages after them. The reason given by them was that trucks coming to carry sand from Ishiagu are damaging the road, but Ishiagu village have created an alternative route for trucks coming to carry sand.

“The point is, if you want to barricade, do that at beginning of the road; let it be clear that you are protecting the road, and not that you are victimising some villages. Now, this is the only road for three other villages: Ishiagu, Ohani and Ogara. Are you saying that people bringing things to these three villages should drop it on the road?” Our source questioned.

Our source alleged a member representing Nkanu East Constituency in the state House of Assembly, Hon. Paul Nnajiofor, to be sponsor of the crisis.

He continues, “Everybody here is saying that the crisis is being sponsored by Hon. Paul Nnajiofor, a member of the Enugu State House of Assembly, representing Nkanu East Constituency, who co- incidentally hails from Asisi. And since that Saturday, many people have been injured ,houses are damagedy and policemen have taken over the community.”

In his reaction, Nnajiofor, denied the allegation, saying it is the handiwork of his political detractors.

According to him, “It is not true. I just heard about the crisis and sued for peace. The allegation that I am sponsoring thugs is incorrect, spurious and the imagination of political detractors sponsored by Igwe Okeke Arum, the Igwe of Mbulu Owo,who ignited and sponsored the crisis in the first instance.I am a leader and a mediator and I, together with other stakeholders are mediating and suing for peace and soon normalcy will return”, He concluded.

Metro

Tragedy As 12-year-old Falls Into Well In Kwara, Dies

Published

20 hours ago

November 17, 2025

Editor

A 12-year-old girl, identified as Nabilat, has died after falling into a domestic well at Ikoyi Community in the Irewolede area of Ilorin West Local Government Area, Kwara State.

The incident occurred around 10:35 am on Saturday when the victim reportedly went to fetch water but slipped and fell into the well.

The Kwara State Fire Service, in a statement on Sunday by its Head of Media and Publicity, Hassan Hakeem Adekunle, said the service was alerted through a telephone call by a resident, identified only as Mayowa, who witnessed the tragedy.

Firefighters were immediately deployed and successfully recovered the girl’s body, which was handed over to a family member.

“According to the report, the victim went to fetch water and in the process, one of her legs slipped off the ground, which made her tumble into the well,” the statement partly read.

The Director of the Kwara State Fire Service, Falade Olumuyiwa, expressed sadness over the incident and cautioned parents and guardians against sending underage children to fetch water from domestic wells.

“The general public must be more careful in their day-to-day activities, and parents should desist from sending underage children to fetch water in domestic wells,” he said.

The incident has reignited concerns about safety precautions around domestic wells, which remain common in several Ilorin communities due to irregular water supply during the dry season.

Metro

PHOTOS: NDLEA Arrests Lagos Hotelier, Seizes 1.7 Tonnes Of Cannabis

Published

21 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a wanted drug baron, Frank Chijioke Ibemesi, known as Chisco Bee, following weeks of surveillance on his operations.

According to a statement released on Sunday by NDLEA’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, Ibemesi, 42, who runs Franc CJ Ibemesi Nig Ltd and Daisy Garden Hotel in Isolo, Lagos, was taken into custody in the early hours of Saturday, 15 November.

Operatives subsequently led him to a warehouse in the same area where 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1,762.8 kilogrammes, were recovered. At the point of arrest, cash in foreign currencies was also seized, including $11,600, £2,000, €2,200 and 50 Canadian dollars.

Elsewhere, NDLEA officers disrupted an attempt by a syndicate to distribute processed skunk from Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve in the Ife South Local Government Area of Osun State.

After days of surveillance, 11,135 kilograms of cannabis were intercepted on Tuesday, 11 November. Two trucks used for transportation were seized, and seven suspects were detained.

In Edo State, 1,902.1 kilograms of skunk were recovered in separate operations. These included 184.1 kilograms along Oza/Igbanke road, 672 kilograms from Utese forest, and further consignments from vehicles on the Benin-Akure road, where two suspects were arrested.

Additional arrests were made in Ogun State, where four men were found with 68 kilograms of skunk and 3.15 kilograms of methamphetamine along the Ijebu-Ode expressway. In Taraba, two suspects were detained with 172 kilograms and 84 kilograms of cannabis, respectively. In Adamawa, 396,000 capsules of tramadol were seized at Aliyu Mustapha International Airport, Yola, while 785 kilograms of skunk were evacuated from a warehouse in Nasarawa.

Operations in Lagos also yielded results. Two suspects were arrested in Surulere with 65.15 kilograms of Canadian Loud, while another was detained in Oyingbo with 141 kilograms of Ghana Loud. In Kwara, officers intercepted a truck on the Ilorin-Jebba expressway carrying 78.565 kilograms of skunk and cartons of rubber solutions. A separate bus was stopped in Ilorin with 20 blocks of cannabis concealed in a jerrycan.

Alongside enforcement, NDLEA continued its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres and workplaces across Zamfara, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Enugu, Lagos and Ogun.

Chairman of the Agency, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retired), commended the officers involved in the operations across Lagos, Osun, Edo, Ogun, Taraba, Adamawa, Nasarawa and Kwara. He urged them to sustain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control, combining enforcement with public education.

Metro

NAF Hits Bandit Logistics Hub, Neutralises Many In Zamfara

Published

21 hours ago

November 16, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Air Component of the Joint Task Force of Operation Fansan Yamma (OPFY) has carried out precision air interdiction missions on the Sauri bandit camp in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, destroying a major defensive position and a logistics hub used by the criminals.

The strikes, conducted on November 14, 2025, resulted in the neutralisation of several terrorists and the destruction of critical structures, significantly degrading the gang’s operational capacity in the area.

NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, confirmed the operation in a statement on Saturday.

According to him, the mission followed extensive intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance operations that revealed heightened terrorist activity, including rustled livestock concealed at a high-ground hideout serving as both a defensive position and logistics hub.

“Acting on this intelligence, the Air Component executed multiple coordinated strike passes on the identified targets, achieving direct hits that dislodged surviving terrorists attempting to flee into surrounding vegetation, where they were subsequently tracked and effectively engaged,” he said.

Ejodame added that the mission demonstrates the commitment of the Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, who has consistently pledged that the NAF will “find them, hunt them down, and protect our people.”

He said the operation underscores the unwavering resolve of the Joint Task Force and the NAF under Operation Fansan Yamma to deny terrorists safe havens, strengthen security in Zamfara State, and support national efforts to restore peace and stability across the North West.

The latest strike came four days after NAF conducted coordinated air interdiction missions in Borno, Katsina, and Kwara states, targeting bandit and terrorist enclaves.

In Borno, heavy strikes hit ISWAP positions in the Northern Tumbuns—Lake Chad Islands—and Mallam Fatori, where terrorists were mobilising with motorcycles and boats.

In Kwara State, airstrikes on Garin Dandi and Chigogo inflicted heavy losses on criminal elements and created panic within their ranks.

Similarly, in Katsina State, bombardments destroyed key logistics hubs at Zango Hill in Kankara Local Government Area, neutralising several terrorists.

Ejodame noted that each mission reaffirms NAF’s commitment to deploying smarter, intelligence-driven airpower to deliver precise lethality against insurgents and criminals while safeguarding the lives and property of Nigerians.