Metro
Two Bankers Arraigned For Alleged N20m Theft

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, on Tuesday, arraigned two bankers, Freeman Jacob and Umar Abdullahi before Justice Simon Akpah Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Kano on a three-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
The commission also arraigned two others – Ahmed Bashir and Abdulhakim Musa (aka Gandu) for working with the duo in 2020.
According to the commission, the defendants allegedly conspired among themselves to produce an ATM card in the name of one Alhaji Sani Muntari.
They used the same to steal the sum of N20,000,000 from his bank.
READ ALSO: Fayemi Breaks Silence On EFCC Probe Over Alleged N4bn Fraud
One of the charges reads, “That you, Freeman Austin Jacob, Umar Abdullahi, sometime in February 2020, at Kano within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, connived with Ahmed Bashir and Abdulhakim Musa to prime and issued Automated Teller Machine card” from a commercial bank account number belonging to one Alhaji Sani Mutari without the knowledge or consent of the said customer and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 14 (7) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc,) Act, 2015.
The defendants perpetrated the fraud by using the account holder’s SIM card, which was stolen by Bashir, the third defendant, to produce an ATM card with the help of the first and second defendants.
It added that the investigation traced some of the proceeds of the theft to the bank account of the fourth defendant, Abdulkarim Musa, a friend of the third defendant, Ahmed Bashir.
However, all the defendants pleaded not guilty.
READ ALSO: EFCC Grills Fayemi Over N4bn Money Laundering
Counsel for the prosecution, Aisha Tahar Habib prayed that the defendants be remanded and urged the court to fix a date for the commencement of trial.
Counsel representing the 1st and 2nd defendants made an oral bail application on behalf of his clients which was opposed by the prosecution counsel on the grounds that the application ought to be formal.
L.A Umar who represented the 4th defendant informed that she intends to file a formal bail application and subsequently prayed to the court for a date to do the same and serve the prosecution.
After listening to the parties’ submissions, Justice Amobeda agreed with the prosecution that bail applications should be made formally as the court is a court of record.
He subsequently remanded the defendant and adjourned the matter till June 26, 2023, for hearing of bail applications and commencement of trial.
PUNCH
Metro
Tragedy As 12-year-old Falls Into Well In Kwara, Dies

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

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.
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.
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
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.

Metro
NAF Hits Bandit Logistics Hub, Neutralises Many In Zamfara

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.
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.
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.
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.
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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