Metro

Police Raid Criminal Hideouts In Delta, Arrest Suspects, Seize Weapons

Published

4 months ago

July 1, 2025

Assorted guns and sophisticated mobile phones were recovered when operatives of the CP Special Assignment Team of the Delta State Police Command staged a crackdown on suspected kidnappers and one-chance syndicate in some parts of the state.

According to The PUNCH, the operation followed a directive of the state Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, that a case of kidnapping reported at the Isiokolo Police station where one suspect was initially arrested be transferred to operatives of the team alongside one suspect named Augustine Ojanuware.

The Police Public Relations Officer for the Delta State Command, Bright Edafe, said in a signed statement made available to journalists in Warri on Monday that “the operatives of the CP-SAT, upon further investigation, said the suspect confessed that he is a member of a kidnapping and armed robbery syndicate terrorising Ughelli, Warri, Agbarho, Sapele and their environs.”

According to the PPRO, “On June 28, 2025, the suspect led operatives to the Osubi area of Warri and Ughelli town, where two additional suspects, viz Precious Urhobowin ‘m’ 27 years of Ewu community in Ughelli North LGA of Delta State and one Julius Okpako, ‘m’, 32 years, a native of Oviri-Ogor community in Ughelli North LGA of Delta State, who is a member and owner of a POS machine used in collecting ransom, were arrested respectively and another locally made gun with eight rounds of live cartridges was recovered from them.”

The police spokesman disclosed that preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects were responsible for the kidnap of a pharmacist on June 19, 2025, in her residence in Ughelli and released after five days upon payment of an undisclosed sum of money and whose Lexus jeep they abandoned along Isiokolo area and also the attempted kidnap of another male victim whose Toyota Corolla they robbed upon the failed attempt at Iyede community on June 28, 2025.

Meanwhile, the suspects are in custody, just as investigations are ongoing in the matter.

The PPRO explained that the operatives arrested some suspected robbers popularly known as “one chance“ and recovered their operational tricycle and 16 sophisticated mobile phones from the gangsters.

The arrest, the police spokesman said, was a sequel to a series of complaints received from members of the public in Ughelli related to a syndicate that specialises in robbing unsuspecting passengers who board commercial tricycles.

The statement partly reads, “Acting on credible intelligence, on June 28, 2025 and June 29, 2025, operatives of CP-Special Assignment Team (CP-SAT) led by ASP Julius Robinson stormed Agbarho town and effected the arrest of Lucky Oghenerobor ‘m’ 37yrs, a native of Olomoro community in Isoko South LGA of Delta State, resident in Agbarho town, who is the leader and owner of their operational tricycle.

“Other suspects were also arrested within Ughelli town namely Olamide Fagbaibe ‘m’ 24yrs, a native of Akure in Ondo State and Umeh Akpan ‘m’ 37yrs a native of Eket in Akwa-Ibom State, both resident in Ughelli town.

“Suspects confessed that they usually operate in Ughelli, Warri, Sapele, and environs. Recovered from them are 16 different kinds of suspected stolen phones”.

In the meantime, the State Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Abaniwonda, has reiterated that “the command remains committed to the fight against crime and criminality”.

The CP called on residents and the people of the state to “always volunteer information that will aid the Police in crime fighting”.

The police boss released the command’s dedicated control room phone numbers which are 08036684974; 08114895600 and 08025666914.

Metro

Lagos: Festac DPO, Matilda Ngbaronye Is Dead

Published

1 hour ago

October 25, 2025

Editor

The Divisional Police Officer, DPO of the Festac Division, Lagos State, Chief Superintendent of Police, CSP Matilda Umiah Ngbaronye is dead.

It was gathered that the senior police officer died on Friday October 24, 2025, in an undisclosed hospital in the Surulere area of Lagos.

TVC News reports that the unfortunate incident has thrown the Lagos State Police Command into mourning.

Until her death, Ngbaronye was widely regarded as one of the vibrant and dedicated officers in the Lagos Command.

Ngbaronye, who previously served as the Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO for the Lagos State Police Command, was known for her professionalism, discipline, and commitment to duty.

Her passing has left colleagues and subordinates in deep sorrow, as tributes continue to pour in from officers and residents of the Festac community.

Metro

Man Stabs Friend To Death Over Woman In Ilorin

Published

2 days ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

The Kwara State Police Command has confirmed that a 21-year-old Gafar, on Tuesday evening, allegedly stabbed 25-year-old Usman Tunde to death during an argument over a choice of woman in Ilorin.

The state police spokesperson, SP Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, said the command received a distress call around 2:30 am on Wednesday and promptly dispatched officers to the scene.

She said the police team that went to the culprit couldn’t find him, as he and the entire extended family in the family compound had fled to an unknown destination.

The Guardian Newspaper reliably learnt that Gafar and Usman, from Ile Olowo in the same area, were close friends in the neighbourhood of Oja Gboro.

According to an eyewitness, the deceased and his alleged killer started the argument over a woman in the Oja Gboro at a sugarcane vendor stand.

A police source (names withheld) later informed that the light argument later degenerated to a violent confrontation with Gafar, allegedly stabbing Tunde in the chest with a knife.

“We heard that they were arguing over a girlfriend they were both interested in, and that before the passers-by could stop them, Gafar had allegedly brought out a knife and stabbed and killed his friend,” the police source added.

Meanwhile, the victim, a resident of Ile-Soro 2, in Oja Gboro, Ilorin, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, from where he was referred to the General Hospital, Ilorin, where he was confirmed dead on arrival.

Metro

Nigerian Military Kills 50 Jihadists During Army Base Raids

Published

2 days ago

October 23, 2025

Editor

Nigeria’s military said on Thursday it had killed 50 armed insurgents using drones to carry out multiple attacks on army bases in the volatile northeast.

The authorities in Africa’s most populous country and one of its powerhouses have been fighting the Boko Haram jihadist group and its Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) splinter for 16 years.

The groups are seeking to establish a caliphate in the northeast.

In the early hours of Thursday, troops aided by fighter jets engaged insurgents who had launched coordinated attacks on bases in the towns of Dikwa, Mafa, and Gajibo in Borno state, as well as in Katarko in neighbouring Yobe state, a military spokesman said in a statement.

The military did not say which faction was behind the attacks, but intelligence sources told AFP that ISWAP militants were responsible.
“The combined ground and air efforts resulted in the neutralisation of over 50 terrorists across all the locations,” Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, said in the statement.

Ground and aerial pursuits were still ongoing to track down “over 70 of the wounded” insurgents, Uba said.

Soldiers seized dozens of kalashnikovs, machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) from the militants, he said.

In a post on X, the army shared pictures showing soldiers standing over a row of several dead bodies said to be of jihadist fighters and their weapons at one of the targeted military bases.

Uba said several soldiers were wounded in the fighting, without giving numbers.

“Some vehicles and buildings were also gutted by fire from the terrorists’ armed drones and RPG fire during the battle, especially in Mafa and Dikwa, where a part of the defences were momentarily breached,” he said.

Armed insurgents are increasingly using drones, often commercial models modified to drop bombs or grenades.

A resident in Mafa showed AFP videos and pictures from the area showing the charred carcasses of several trucks and said the militants had set them ablaze during the attack.

Mafa locals said the trucks were mostly laden with cement heading to Chad, whose drivers had parked for the night for fear of militant attacks on the highway.

The conflict has killed more than 40,000 and displaced around two million people in northeastern Nigeria.

It has spilled over into neighbouring countries, prompting the creation of a regional military coalition to combat the Islamist groups.

Earlier this month, at least 14 soldiers were killed in two attacks in Borno state blamed on insurgents — one at an army base, the other when a military convoy was ambushed.

Since 2019, soldiers have shut down some smaller army bases and moved into larger, fortified garrisons known as “super camps” in an attempt to better resist militant attacks.