Metro

Police Bust Kidnapper’s Hideout, Recover Arms, Military Uniform In Delta

Published

5 months ago

February 21, 2025

Operatives of the Commissioner Police Special Assignment team of the Delta State Police Command have busted a criminal hideout of some suspected kidnappers/armed robbers who have been terrorising residents of the Abraka/Obiaruku/Umutu axis of the state.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Command’s Public Relations Officer SP Bright Edafe, copies of which were made available to journalists in Warri on Friday.

The statement noted that the feat followed an intelligence-led investigation carried out on the arrest of some suspected kidnappers on January 30, 2025.

According to the statement, operatives of the CP Special Assignment team led by ASP Julius Robinson “made a significant achievement when they stormed the hideouts on February 2, 2025 and busted the house of the fleeing gang leader named Emeka, surname unknown, at about 1635hrs, located at Evwokenren Layout, off Ughelli road, Agbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area.

“During the raid, a fabricated semi-automatic Beretta pistol with four rounds of live ammunition, four locally made cut-to-size guns, 13 rounds of live cartridges, and a pair of military uniforms concealed in a black polythene bag were recovered,” the police spokesman affirmed.

The PPRO further disclosed that the suspect is in custody while a manhunt to arrest other members of his gang is ongoing.

In another development, on February 19, 2025, at about 1600 hrs, operatives of Safer 025 of Safer Highway Patrol, while conducting a stop and search on a commercial vehicle along the Agbor/Benin express road, arrested three suspects in possession of three locally made long guns and charms.

On interrogation, the suspects, namely, Buhari Bala (28), Habibu Sale (25), Abdulwahab Musa (20), and Taisu Bala (20), all male, claimed they were coming from Zaria, Kaduna State, and going to a bush close to Benin called Igbogri community for a hunting expedition.

The police spokesman stated that the suspects are in custody just as the investigation is ongoing.

In an earlier development, on January 17, 2025, acting on a tip-off, the DPO Agbarho Division, CSP Pius Eredei, mobilised and led operatives to the apartment of one Eriga Enyuche, aged 40 years.

Upon search of his one-room apartment, one G-3 rifle and one pump-action gun were recovered from where they were hidden in the ceiling of the room.

The investigation is ongoing.

Meanwhile, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, has declared that the Command under his watch “will not relent in the fight against crime and criminality.”

The CP maintained that “Delta State will remain hot for criminals.”

He, therefore, urged members of the public to continue to make available to the Police Command useful, timely and credible information by reporting to the nearest police station or by calling the following Command Control Room numbers: 08036684974, 08114895600 and 08025666914.

Metro

10 Die In Ogun Night Bus Crash

Published

1 hour ago

July 6, 2025

Editor

No fewer than 10 persons have been confirmed dead, while three others sustained injuries in a lone crash involving a Mitsubishi bus on the Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan Expressway.

Mr Babatunde Akinbiyi, spokesperson for the Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) in Ogun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday.

Akinbiyi said the accident occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday at Ome Bridge, Awa, along Ijebu-Ode–Ibadan highway in Ijebu North Local Government Area.

He stated that the lone crash involved a Mitsubishi bus, registration number EJ829-LSR, which was conveying 15 passengers at the time.

According to Akinbiyi, seven male and three female passengers died. Three others were injured, while a toddler and one adult escaped unhurt.

He said preliminary findings indicate that overspeeding and wrongful overtaking led to the accident.

“Eyewitnesses said the driver wrongly overtook another vehicle at high speed and could not regain control after noticing an oncoming vehicle.

“The driver veered off the road, hit an abandoned gravel pile beside the bridge, and plunged the vehicle into the river,” Akinbiyi explained.

He said the deceased were taken to Ijebu-Ode General Hospital’s morgue, while the injured were also being treated at the same facility.

The spokesperson urged motorists to avoid speeding and to refrain from travelling at night, stressing the importance of road safety at all times.

Metro

NDLEA Detains Couple, 2 Daughters For Alleged Drug Running

Published

2 hours ago

July 6, 2025

Editor

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Sunday said it has arrested and detained a businessman, his wife and two daughters over alleged drug peddling.

A statement by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in Abuja, stated that a family friend of theirs was also taken into custody.

Babafemi said that this came after an investigation revealed that the family ran a major illicit drug distribution network in Lagos involving a family friend.

“The couple was first arrested on Friday, June 13, by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Ojo area of the state and transferred to NDLEA along with 277.5kg of skunk.

“While they were still being investigated in custody, credible intelligence revealed that the family business was going on in his house.

“This led to a raid of their home and a packing store where 231kg of the same substance was recovered on Tuesday, July 1.”

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Wednesday, July 2, intercepted a frequent flyer for drug trafficking.

Babafemi said that the suspect specialised in conveying goods for customers from Nigeria to Italy and vice versa.

“He was found to have hidden 7,660 pills of tramadol 225mg and 200mg inside food items packed among other goods he was conveying to Italy.

“He claimed that he was to be paid the sum of 800 euros upon successful delivery of the drug consignment in Italy,” he said.

Metro

NDLEA Recovers $17.7million Travelers’ Cheques In Children Books

Published

2 hours ago

July 6, 2025

Editor

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) said on Sunday that it has intercepted a total of 52 pieces of travelers’ cheques concealed in children’s books worth $17.7 17.7million.

The cheques, according to a statement issued by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in Abuja, were en route to Malaysia through Istanbul on a Turkish Airlines flight.

Babafemi, however, stated that NDLEA operatives intercepted the cheques at the airport’s export shed on July 4.

He stated that the interdiction operation, which took place at Lagos airport, resulted in the arrest of a freight agent in connection with the intercepted travelers’ cheques.

“The travelers cheques suspected to be counterfeit and the suspect will soon be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for further investigation,” he said.

He said that on July 5, NDLEA officers at the Seme border recovered 718 big balls of skunk weighing 359 kg from a store in the Baba–Pupa area of the border community.

Operatives on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja highway intercepted 10,000 pills of tramadol 225mg and co-codamol as well as 1.050kg of Colorado, a synthetic strain of cannabis.

This, he said, led to the arrest of owners of the way-billed drug consignments at Jabi Park in Abuja during a follow-up operation.

Babafemi said in another development in Osun, two suspects were arrested at the Ajegunle area of Osogbo on July 3 with 13,901 pills and ampoules of different opioids recovered from them.

He said that another suspect was nabbed at a patent medicine shop at Arubidi Street, Ile-Ife, with 48,205 pills of opioids.

“A raid on a vulcaniser workshop at Akindeko junction, Alekuwodo area of Osogbo on Tuesday, July 1, led to the arrest of three suspects.

“They were arrested with 1,250 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 850 pills of tramadol and three bottles of codeine-based syrup.”

The spokesman stated that the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) and social advocacy activities by the NDLEA commands continued across the country equally in the past week.

“Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Queen of Angel Secondary School, Mgbidi, Awgu, Enugu state, Divine Purpose College, Eyita, Ikorodu, Lagos.

“Others are Al-Furqan College, Kankia, Katsina and residents of Gomari Binta Suga community, Maiduguri, Borno state, among others.”