Operatives 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.
NDLEA said the suspect was caught attempting to ship large quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine to the Southeast and other parts of the country.
This was made known in a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director, Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.
Babafemi disclosed that Okpara, who has been on the wanted list of NDLEA since 2019, was eventually nabbed at his hideout at 72 Michael Ojo Street, Isheri in the Ojo area of Lagos State on Sunday last week following the interception of some of his consignments at Ilasamaja along Apapa-Oshodi expressway.
In the early morning operation, 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.
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 additional 1.8kg of cocaine and 1.3kg of methamphetamine were recovered from his residence.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos, NDLEA operatives, in a joint operation with Aviation Security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), on Wednesday, 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 going 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, 17th July, intercepted 17 parcels of skunk, a strain of cannabis, weighing 1.70kg concealed in packs of popular cereal, Golden Morn, going to Pakistan as part of a consolidated cargo.
A suspect, Chioba Robert Uchenna, who presented the consignment for shipment, was arrested.
In Lagos, NDLEA operatives, on Saturday, 19th July, raided Sarah Sam Hotels located at 115 Ogudu Road in Kosofe, where different party drugs are 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.
Three suspects, Onyeka Madu, Monday Nwadishi, and Emmanuel Madu—were, on Saturday, 19th July, arrested 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 from them.
In Kano, Lawan Rabiu was nabbed with 36,000 pills of tramadol along Danbatta-Kazaure road on Wednesday, 16th July.
While a total of 25,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from a suspect, Aliyu Abubakar, at Gombe roundabout on Friday, 18th July, 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, 19th July, intercepted 74,360 pills of opioids in a Mercedes Benz C180 car marked GUB 409 AA and arrested Audu Modu, 44, in connection with the seizure, while in Bayelsa State, a 63-year-old grandma, Akuna Nelson, was on Thursday, 17th July, arrested at Osiri area of Yenagoa in connection with the seizure of 163 litres of skuchies.
Four suspects, Ikechukwu Abugu, 42; Sunday Ani, 18; Chukwu Christian, 46; and Emmanuel Olisakwe, 55, were, on Thursday, 17th July, 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 Monday, 14th July, raided the base of a notorious drug dealer, Nduka Obi, 39, at 4 Niger Street, Ugwa Road, Aba, where various quantities of tramadol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and a total of N736,000 monetary exhibit were recovered from him.
While a total of 45,000 pills of tramadol were seized from a suspect, Chisom Okpalaeke, 30, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Onitsha – Enugu expressway, Enugu State, on Wednesday, 16th July, officers of the Taraba State Command of the agency, the same day, apprehended the duo of Ngwokwoka Thomas, 44, and Mohammed Audu, 44, with 10,000 caps of tramadol and a gram of cannabis at Dan Anacha, Gassol LGA.
Reacting to the development, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the officers and men of MMIA, SOU, Lagos, Kaduna, Osun, Bayelsa, Gombe, Borno, Abia, Kogi, Enugu, and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.
Marwa also praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
UK police said Tuesday they arrested a 14-year-old schoolgirl in the northwestern English city of Manchester after two students and a staff member were wounded in a school stabbing.
The girl was arrested on suspicion of assault and was in custody for questioning, Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.
Three people were injured — a 14-year-old schoolgirl, a 14-year-old schoolboy and a 27-year-old man who is a member of staff — with what were believed to be stab wounds.
“All were taken to hospital; however, injuries are thankfully not believed to be serious, and all are stable at this time,” police said following the incident at the Co-op Academy north of central Manchester.
The school decided to go into lockdown following the attack, as emergency vehicles surrounded the building, the Manchester Evening News reported.
“Officers will remain at the school and within the area to provide a visible presence and community reassurance,” police chief inspector Jon Shilvock said.
The UK government is trying to clamp down on youth knife crime and the sale of banned knives and machetes, including on online platforms.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested and charged in February over the suspected stabbing of two boys at a London school.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps ( NSCDC) Kwara State Command, has arrested a 34-year-old man, Akinola Tosin, for allegedly defrauding a Point-of-Sale (PoS) operator using a fake bank transfer alert while also impersonating a member of the Nigerian Army.
The command’s Public Relations Officer, ASC 1 Ayoola Michael, who confirmed the arrest in a statement on Monday, June 8, 2026 said the suspect was apprehended following a complaint from a POS operator in the state.
According to the statement, the suspect allegedly obtained N40,600 from the operator after presenting a fake debit alert as proof of payment.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect collected the sum of Forty Thousand Six Hundred Naira (#40,600) after presenting a fake debit alert to the POS operator, deceiving the victim into believing a successful transfer had been made,” the statement read.
“Further investigations revealed that the suspect had been impersonating a member of the Nigerian Army using a fake military identity card bearing his name, alongside military-related paraphernalia, which he allegedly used to gain public trust and facilitate his criminal activities.
“The suspect also confessed to previous fraudulent activities involving multiple victims, while further investigation uncovered a suspected accomplice, identified as one Feranmi Idoko Godwin, who is currently at large.
“Efforts are ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspect and conclude investigations.
“Items recovered from the suspect include, 2 Opay ATM cards, 2 UBA ATM cards, 2 First Bank ATM cards, 1 PalmPay ATM card and 1 National Identity Card.
“The suspect will be prosecuted in accordance with the law upon the conclusion of investigations.
“The NSCDC Kwara State Commandant, Commandant Abbas Ndah Mohammed, reaffirmed the Corps’ unwavering commitment to combating crime and other forms of criminality, while urging members of the public to remain vigilant and verify electronic transactions before releasing cash, goods or other valuables.”
The Ilorin Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has arraigned a self-styled native doctor, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo, and his wife, Awolegan Omolola Omotola, for an alleged contract scam to the tune of N1,098,961,500 (One Billion, Ninety Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Ninety-one Thousand, Five Hundred Naira Only).
The couple were arraigned before Justice Abubakar Usman of the Federal High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti on a six-count charge bordering of obtaining money by false pretence and retention of proceeds of crime contrary to Section 17(a) of the EFCC (Establishment) Act, 2004.
Taiwo and Omotola were arrested when a widow, Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, a proprietor of a private school in Delta State, petitioned the EFCC alleging that the first defendant, Taiwo, approached her to finance a road construction contract purportedly awarded to him by the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC).
Kenechukwu further alleged that a total sum of N1,980,000,000.00 (One Billion, Nine Hundred and Eighty Million Naira Only) was paid into Taiwo’s account domiciled with Access Bank Plc.
Investigation further revealed that the couple invested the proceeds of the illicit activities in the acquisition of two properties in Ado-Ekiti, namely: Town Tavern Lounge, located at No. 1, Ikere Road, off Florence Court School, Ado-Ekiti, and a four-bedroom bungalow located on Florence Court, Irewolede Estate, Ado-Ekiti
The Commission had on Monday, May 25, 2026 secured the interim attachment of the two properties.
Count 2 of the charge reads:
“That you, Olorunbukunmi Taiwo and Awolegan Omolola Omotola, sometime between January 2024 and November 2025, in Ilorin within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N1,098,961,500.00 (One Billion, Ninety-Eight Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-One Thousand, Five Hundred Naira) from one Anazia Colina Kenechukwu, which was paid to you through Olorunbukunmi Taiwo’s account number 0027303340 domiciled with Access Bank Plc, by falsely representing that same would be used to execute a road construction contract awarded to you by the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), a pretence you knew to be false, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 1(1)(a) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006 and punishable under Section 1(3) of the same Act.”
When the charges were read to them The defendants pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them.
Following their pleas, counsel to the EFCC, Sesan Ola, prayed the court to fix a date for trial and order the remand of the defendants.
Justice Usman adjourned the matter until Thursday, June 11, 2026, for hearing of the bail application, and commencement of trial. The judge also ordered the remand of the defendants in the EFCC holding facility.
