Metro

NDLEA Declares Ex-beauty Queen, Aderinoye Wanted For Drug Dealing

Published

2 years ago

January 28, 2024

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have declared an ex-beauty queen, Ms. Aderinoye Queen Christmas, also known as Ms. Queen Oluwadamilola Aderinoye wanted over her alleged deals in illicit substances.

According to reports, Aderinoye was declared wanted after she escaped from her Lekki, Lagos residence when NDLEA operatives raided her apartment at Oral Estate, Lekki, on Wednesday 24th, following credible intelligence that she deals in illicit substances.

The suspect was Miss Commonwealth Nigeria Culture 2015/2016 and founder of Queen Christmas Foundation.

Recovered from her home during the search witnessed by the estate officials include 606 grams of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale, large quantities of drugs packing plastics, a black RAV 4 SUV marked Lagos KSF 872 GQ, and her picture frame among others.

Spokesman of NDLEA, Femi Babafemi who made this known said Operatives also arrested a Brazil returnee, Udechukwu Ekene Theophilus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA Ikeja Lagos for ingesting 60 big wraps of cocaine.

“The suspect who was arrested during inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight from Sao Paulo, Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at the D-Arrival Hall of the Lagos airport on Sunday 21st January 2024, initially refused to undergo body scan, raising health concerns in a desperate bid to evade arrest.

“When he was however offered other options, he accepted to be placed on excretion observation and shortly after he was ushered into NDLEA observatory, he excreted the first set of cocaine pellets, after which he expelled a total of 60 wraps of the class A drug weighing 1.279 kilograms in five excretions.

“In his statement, Udechukwu claimed he ingested the consignment in Brazil and was to discharge everything at the airport in Addis Ababa but could only excrete 15 pellets which he handed over to another member of his syndicate before his connecting flight to Nigeria was called.

“In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on Tuesday 23rd January recovered a total of twelve (12) cartons of tramadol 225mg containing five hundred and ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred (599,900) pills weighing 385.40kg from an overstayed cargo at the SAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport after a joint examination with other agencies.

“The tramadol consignment had come into the country in two batches on KLM Royal Dutch Airline flights from Karachi, Pakistan between 27th July and 1st August 2023.

“They were however placed under watch by NDLEA operatives since then,” he said.

He continued, “Not less than 822 kilograms of cannabis sativa hidden in a fuel station located at Ashipa community along Badagry-Seme road were recovered by operatives of the Seme Special Area Command of NDLEA, while a suspect Sani Audu, 35, was arrested with 111.3kg of same substance at Maigatari town in Jigawa State on Tuesday 23rd January.

In Yobe state, two suspects: Mohammed Usman and Adamu Ma’azu were arrested on Saturday 27th January with 49 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 50kg at Damaturu motor park, Damaturu.

The duo of Paul Obor, 38, and Dennis Fuokorighe, 48, were arrested on Wednesday 24th Jan. at a Navy check point, Itobe, Ofu LGA, Kogi state with 318 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 190.8kg concealed in a gold colour Honda Accord Car marked RBC 449AE, and were handed over to the Kogi state command of the Agency on Friday 26th Jan. by men of the Nigeria Navy Ship, Lugard, Lokoja.

In Kano, a suspect, Shamwilu Idris, 29, was arrested at Gadar Tamburawa area on Thursday 25th January with 271kg cannabis following the seizure of an abandoned 28.1kg of same substance at Rijiyar Lemo area of the state on Wednesday 24th January.

Another suspect, Abubakar Haruna Salisu, 24, was nabbed at Kotun Wambai, Yan Awaki, area of Kano on Friday 26th January with 600 bottles of codeine-based syrup while a total of 1, 306 blocks of cannabis weighing 886kg seized by the Police at Kwanar Dangora, area of the state were transferred to the Agency on Wednesday 24th January.

A total of 87 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 73kg as well as 21, 346 pills of tramadol and 3,800 tablets of diazepam were recovered from a suspect, Musa Galadima on Friday 26th January when his DAF truck marked GME 971 XD was intercepted at Lafiyawo, along Gombe – Bauchi road by NDLEA operatives. In Plateau state,

Aminu Ubanta, 35, was nabbed on Saturday 27th January with 5.355kg cannabi at Layin Zana area of Jos.

Two members of an international drug trafficking syndicate: Sunday Michael Owoborode, 52, and Valentine Anene were arrested the next day Thursday 25th January at Edu Orita, Ogun state where Valentine was being prepared to travel with some drugs to Qatar same day on board a Qatar airline flight from Lagos.

At the time of their arrest, 1.8kg of cannabis, an electronic weighing scale and other illicit substances were found on them.

In another interdiction operation by operatives in Lagos, a 50-year-old Sunday Adediran, was arrested on Wednesday 24th January with 20kg cannabis sativa found in one of the rooms in his house at Mushin Olosha.

With the same vigour, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week.

Some of them include WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Government Day Primary and Secondary School, Jiddel Michika, Adamawa State; students of Soltab Comprehensive College, Abeokuta, Ogun state; pupils and teachers of Sangotedo Primary School, Ajah, Lagos State.

Others were pupils and teachers of ADS Basic Primary School 1&2, Ogbomoso, Oyo state; students and teachers of Farfanu Malami community secondary school, Magama Jibia, Katsina state; and WADA advocacy visit to His Royal Highness, Dr. Gibson Nwabueze Nwosu, Eze Uzu 11 of Awka, Anambra State, among others.

Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers and men of the MMIA, Lagos, Seme, Kano, Gombe, Kogi, Plateau and Jigawa Commands of the Agency for their outstanding feats in the past week.

He equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures, thus creating a balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.

Metro

Police Arrest Mother, Daughter Over Alleged N18m Romance Scam

Published

4 hours ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, NPF-NCCC, have arrested a woman and her daughter over their alleged involvement in a romance scam that reportedly defrauded a Malta-based victim of more than N18 million.

The police disclosed that the arrests followed investigations into allegations bordering on computer-related fraud, identity theft, and money laundering after receiving intelligence from the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU.

In a statement issued by the Acting Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Uwana Imah, the suspects were identified as 39-year-old Urowhe Diana and her 22-year-old daughter, Rokibat Oluwasheyi Imoru.

According to the statement, preliminary investigations revealed that a Lagos resident identified as Emmanuel Amanfo, who is currently at large, allegedly collaborated with Rokibat Oluwasheyi Imoru to open and operate multiple bank accounts used in carrying out fraudulent transactions.

“One of the victims was identified as a resident of Malta whose identity has been withheld,” the statement said.

The police further disclosed that proceeds from the alleged romance scam were transferred through money transfer operators and direct deposits into several Nigerian bank accounts belonging to Rokibat Oluwasheyi Imoru.

Investigators also alleged that the funds were later moved into an Ecobank account owned by Urowhe Diana, where the money was allegedly spent.

According to the statement, forensic analysis of the suspects’ digital activities allegedly linked both mother and daughter to the cybercrime operation, leading to their eventual arrest.

The police added that efforts were ongoing to apprehend Emmanuel Amanfo, who was described as the husband of Urowhe Diana and stepfather of Rokibat Oluwasheyi Imoru.

“Investigation into the matter is still ongoing, and the suspects will be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations,” the statement added.

The Nigeria Police Force reiterated the commitment of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, to safeguarding Nigeria’s cyberspace and tackling cybercrime across the country.

The NPF-NCCC also urged members of the public to report suspicious cyber-related activities through its official online reporting portal and designated communication channels.

Metro

Edo Police Arrest Two Suspected Cultists

Published

22 hours ago

May 27, 2026

Editor

The Edo State Police Command on Wednesday said two suspected cultists were arrested in Ohonre community, off Adolor College Road, Benin.

This was disclosed in a statement by the command Public Relations Officer, Eno Ikoedem, and made available to newsmen electrically.

Ikoedem said the arrest was possible due to operatives response to a distress report concerning the movement and gathering of some suspected cult members within the community.

The statement reads: “The Edo State Police Command has recorded another operational breakthrough following the swift disruption of a suspected cultists’ gathering in Ohonre Community, off Adolor College Road, Benin City.

“On 21st May, 2026, at about 19:00hrs, operatives attached to Ugbowo Division who were on surveillance patrol responded to a distress report concerning the movement and gathering of some suspected cult members within the community.

“Acting promptly on the information, the police team mobilized to the location. On sighting the operatives, the suspects fled in an attempt to evade arrest. The operatives immediately gave them a hot chase, leading to the arrest of two suspects identified as Victor Peter ‘M’, 21 years and Iyemoma Ogbewe ‘M’, 35 years.

“A search conducted on the suspects led to the recovery of one cut-to-size gun believed to have been in their possession for unlawful purposes.

“Upon investigation, the suspects confessed to being members of the notorious Maphite cult group. Efforts are ongoing to identify and apprehend other fleeing gang members.”

She said the Commissioner of Police, Monday Agbonika, commended the swift response of the operatives and reiterated the Command’s resolve to deny criminal elements any opportunity within Edo State.

He further urged residents to continue providing timely and credible information to the Police, assuring that all reports would receive prompt attention.

Metro

Troops Eliminate Two Terrorists, Foil Pipeline Attack

Published

2 days ago

May 26, 2026

Editor

The Nigerian Army says troops have, in the last 24 hours, eliminated two terrorists, rescued four kidnapped victims and foiled pipeline attacks in a series of coordinated military operations across Taraba, Kogi and Rivers.

This is contained in operational updates issued to reporters on Tuesday in Abuja.

According to the reports, troops of 93 Battalion deployed at Akate in the Donga Local Government Area of Taraba engaged suspected terrorists in a forested area, killing two of them.

According to the report, items recovered from the scene include an AK-47 rifle, ammunition, magazines, mobile phones and other personal effects.

In Kogi, it said the troops of 21 Battalion, in collaboration with vigilantes, rescued four kidnapped passengers along the Anyigba–Itobe road in Ofu Local Government Area.

It added that the victims were reportedly abandoned by their captors while attempting to cross a seasonal stream due to sustained pressure from advancing troops.

According to the military, efforts are ongoing to rescue other victims still in captivity.

The report said that troops of 12 Brigade successfully repelled an ambush along Kabba–Okene road while withdrawing from an earlier operation, forcing the assailants to flee with gunshot wounds.

“Meanwhile, in Rivers, troops of 5 Battalion acting on credible intelligence, foiled an attempt by suspected vandals to detonate a crude oil pipeline in Ahoada West Local Government Area.

“The swift response of the troops disrupted the operation before it could be executed, with the suspects fleeing the scene,” it said.