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Edo: Police Arrest Three For Cultism, Recover Arms

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The Edo State Police Command has paraded three suspected cultists in Benin City alleged to be members of the Maphite confraternity.

According to a statement by a media aide to the governor, Crusoe Osagie, on Friday, the police commissioner, Funsho Adegboye, paraded the suspects, identified as Eyefia Godbless (30), Imuetiyan Ewemade (30), and Emeka Okpaja (22).

The trio were reportedly apprehended at Ubiaza Community, Off Sapele Road in Benin City, where they were allegedly planning to avenge the killing of a fellow member.

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We have the full backing of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun on the fight against cultism and we are not joking with it,” Adegboye was quoted stating.

He added that Governor Godwin Obaseki and his executive team are also supporting the initiative to rid the state of cultism and criminality.

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The police recovered several items from the suspects, including an automatic pump action gun, 11 live carriages, three green berets, and a Maphite constitution.

According to the Commissioner, the suspects made confessional statements affirming their membership in the cult group.

READ ALSO: Police Arrest Man With Skull In Abuja

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Adegboye emphasized the dangerous nature of the weapons seized, stating, “This is an automatic pump action gun which is as deadly as AK 47 which has a bullet that can kill several people, unlike AK-47 which can kill just one person. According to the suspects, the gun was purchased for about N700,000.”

The Commissioner used the opportunity to appeal to the youth, urging them to gainfully engage themselves in profitable and positive activities adding that crime, cultism, and internet fraud do not pay.

In addition to the three cultists, the police reported other recent arrests. These include five suspects apprehended at a cultist hideout along Siluko road, where two pump action guns, two locally made single barrel guns, and 20 live cartridges were recovered.

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In a separate incident, one Osayande Tony was arrested with a pump action gun and two cartridges while driving a Mercedes Benz C300 Saloon car.

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The police also have in custody one Apalobi Daniel from Powerline, Ugbiyokho, Benin City, who allegedly strangled his wife to death during an argument. The suspect is expected to be charged in court soon.

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“At same Siluko road, Rapid Response Squad intercepted one Mercedes Benz C300 Saloon car with registration number YAB 389 BG, driven by Osayande Tony ‘M’ 48 years and was arrested with one pump action gun and two cartridges,” Adegboye added.

Adegboye further reiterated the commitment of the Edo State Government and the police, in collaboration with other security agencies and the press, to continue sensitising the public about the dangers of cult groups and criminal activities.

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

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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.

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READ ALSO:Islamic Cleric Arrested For Brutalising 10-year-old Boy In Kwara

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.

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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.

READ ALSO:Drama As Kwara Housewife Faints In Court After Husband Insists On Divorce

“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.

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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.

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

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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.

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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.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Suspected Drug Baron, Seizes Over 14,000kg Skunk In Osun

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.

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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.

READ ALSO:PHOTOS: NDLEA Dismantles Colos Factory In Lagos, Seizes 16kg Synthetic Cannabis

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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.

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NAF Hits Bandit Logistics Hub, Neutralises Many In Zamfara

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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.

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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.

READ ALSO:NAF To Close Lagos Airport Road For Fitness Walk

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.

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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.

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READ ALSO:NAF Redeploys 25 Senior Officers

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.

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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.

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