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Kidnappers Abduct 20-year-old Lady Hawking Cooked Rice, Demand Ransom

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Suspected kidnappers have abducted a 20-year-old petty trader, identified as Ajuma Simon, a native of Ukpotume, a village after Ugwolawo in Odolu/ Igalamela Local Government Area of Kogi State and demanded a huge sum of money.

The incident was said to have happened on Friday when the gunmen invaded her house around 1am and whisked her away.

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The locals said the lady was popular in the community and mostly known for hawking cooked rice and okpa, a local delicacy made from Barbara nuts.

READ ALSO: Police Raid kidnappers’ Hideout In Delta, Recover Rifles

A resident and youth leader in Ugwolawo community, Ameh Adams said, “The gunmen, in their number, stormed her house at Ukpotume, a town after Ugwolawo around 1am and whisked her away.

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“She hawks cooked rice and okpa for a living. Her abductors are demanding a huge amount of money for her release.

“It is being rumoured in the community that she just collected a contribution.”

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, SP William Aya, did not respond to text messages and calls put across to him on the incident.

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However, the police in the area confirmed the incident but declined further comments.

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Millions Of Naira Lost As Fire Guts Oyo Factory

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A fire incident has destroyed property worth millions of naira at an industrial facility in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Investigations by The PUNCH revealed that the incident occurred at Shril-Balaj Industrial Limited, in the Olopomeji area of Ibadan, on Sunday.

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Eyewitnesses said the recycling section of the facility, which housed an accumulation of disused tyres, was affected, leading to the destruction of properties worth millions of naira.

READ ALSO:VIDEO: Fire Guts Actress Iyabo Ojo’s Office

The Chairman of the State Fire Service, Maroof Akinwande, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said the incident was reported to the agency at around 7:07 am, on Sunday.

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He said, “The fire incident was a result of the explosion of a running machine, which ignited nearby combustibles and set the section ablaze.

“The fire affected the recycling section and disused tyres, whilst the fire service was able to save other sections of the company from the devastating fire.”
(PUNCH)

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Anambra Governorship Candidate Shot

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The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the upcoming Anambra state election, Chief Jude Ezenwafor, early on Saturday morning escaped an assassination attempt in Abuja.

He told journalists that the near-death situation took place around Wuse 2 on Friday night, on his way home after an appointment when the incident happened.

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Chief Ezenwafor, who is currently in a private hospital in Abuja where he is due for a surgery session, is nursing injuries amidst excruciating pains.

READ ALSO: INEC Extends Voter Registration In Anambra Amid High Turnout

“I’m currently in the hospital. The doctors are making efforts to operate on me so that they can pull out bullets from my body,” he faintly said.

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The governorship hopeful was shot alongside two persons who were with him.

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NDLEA Nabs Wanted Drug Kingpin With 11.6kg Cocaine, Meth After Seven Years

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Operatives of a special operations unit of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a wanted 60-year-old drug kingpin, Okpara Paul Chigozie, ending seven years of evading the long arm of the law.

A statement by the spokesman of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi, on Sunday said the suspect was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.

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Okpara, who has been on the wanted list of the NDLEA since 2019, was eventually arrested at his hideout at 72 Michael Ojo Street, Isheri in the Ojo area of Lagos State on 13th July 2025, following the interception of some of his consignments at 5:45 am that same day at Ilasamaja along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway in an early morning operation.

The statement said a team of NDLEA officers, acting on credible intelligence, arrested one of Okpara’s couriers, 51-year-old Achebe Kenneth Nnamdi, while heading to Onitsha, Anambra State in a white Toyota Sienna vehicle.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Intercepts Drugs In Factory-fitted Lipsticks At Lagos Airport

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The agency’s sniffer dogs were subsequently brought in to search the vehicle, after which 7.6 kilograms of cocaine and 900 grams of methamphetamine were found hidden in body compartments of the space bus. A follow-up operation was promptly carried out at Okpara’s hideout in Isheri, where an additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.

At the Lagos International Airport, Babafemi said operatives of the Agency, in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on 16th July, recovered 7,790 pills of tramadol and rohypnol from the luggage of an Italy-bound passenger, Omoregie Nice Uyiosa. The suspect, who was travelling to Italy via Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight, claimed he purchased the drugs himself, hoping to sell them in Italy at higher prices.

In another arrest at the Lagos airport, NDLEA operatives at the export shed on Thursday intercepted 17 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1.70kg, concealed in packs of the popular cereal, Golden Morn, heading to Pakistan as part of a consolidated cargo. A suspect, Chioba Robert Uchenna, who presented the consignment for shipment, was arrested.

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READ ALSO:NDLEA Detains Couple, 2 Daughters For Alleged Drug Running

NDLEA operatives on Saturday 19th July raided Sarah Sam Hotels located at 115 Ogudu Road in Kosofe, Lagos State, where various party drugs were being distributed and sold. The raid followed credible intelligence and surveillance which confirmed a suspect, Obayemi Oyetade, as the arrowhead of the drug network.

At the time of the operation, 1.30kg of chocolate cannabis, 900 grams of gummies and 22.9 grams of skunk were recovered from Obayemi’s room in the hotel, which is a 20-room facility run as a family business, housing his mother and siblings. Other items recovered from the hotel include three vehicles.

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Three suspects – Onyeka Madu, Monday Nwadishi and Emmanuel Madu – were arrested on Saturday during an intelligence-led raid at Narayi High Cost area of Chikun LGA, Kaduna State, where 742.866 kilograms of skunk and Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis, were seized.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Recovers $17.7million Travelers’ Cheques In Children Books

The NDLEA statement also said one Lawan Rabiu was nabbed with 36,000 pills of tramadol along Danbatta-Kazaure Road on Wednesday in Kano.

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While a total of 25,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Aliyu Abubakar, at Gombe roundabout on Friday, the duo of Mohammed Adamu and Furaira Idris were arrested the same day with 49 blocks of compressed skunk that weighed 29kg at Kwadom, Yemaltu Deba LGA, Gombe State.

In Borno, NDLEA officers on patrol along Baga Road, Maiduguri, on Saturday intercepted 74,360 pills of opioids in a Mercedes Benz C180 car marked GUB 409 AA and arrested Audu Modu in connection with the seizure, while in Bayelsa State, a 63-year-old grandmother, Akuna Nelson, was on Thursday arrested at Osiri area of Yenagoa in connection with the seizure of 163 litres of skuchies.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Destroys 9.67 Hectares Of Cannabis Farmland, Arrests 7 Suspect

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Four suspects – Ikechukw Abugu, Sunday Ani, Chukwu Christian and Emmanuel Olisakwe – were on Thursday arrested by NDLEA operatives along Okene-Lokoja highway, Kogi State, in connection with the seizure of 2kg of methamphetamine recovered during a search of their vehicle coming from Onitsha, Anambra State, to Minna, Niger State.

In Abia State, NDLEA officers on 14th July raided the base of a notorious drug dealer, Nduka Obi, at 4 Niger Street, Ugwa Road, Aba, where various quantities of tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and a total of N736,000 in monetary exhibit were recovered from him.

While a total of 45,000 pills of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Chisom Okpalaeke, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Onitsha – Enugu expressway, Enugu State, on 16th July, officers of the Taraba State Command of the agency the same day apprehended the duo of Ngwokwoka Thomas and Mohammed Audu with 10,000 caps of tramadol and a gram of cannabis at Dan Anacha, Gassol LGA.

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While commending the officers and men of the various Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for maintaining a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

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