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.
A Nigerian man and one other were arrested during an anti-narcotics operation in Kenya.Arts & Entertainment
Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, March 17, 2026.
According to the statement, detectives from the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU), in collaboration with officers from the Transnational Organised Crime Unit (TOCU), conducted an intelligence-led operation targeting a suspected narcotics trafficking network.
Acting on credible intelligence that suspects were planning a narcotics exchange in Stock inauguration, Machakos County, the team responded swiftly. Nigerian Oil Industry
However, upon arrival, it was established that the planned meeting had been aborted.
Based on real-time information from covert sources, the operation was redirected to Ruaka, Kiambu County.
A search at a house within Mbuti Apartment, Ruaka, led to the recovery of several exhibits including pellets and packages of substances suspected to be narcotic drugs, digital weighing scales, mobile phones, foreign passports, and cash in both Kenyan and Nigerian currencies.
Two suspects were arrested during the operation: Okeke Ikechukwu, a Nigerian national and Alex Opondo, a Kenyan national.
The suspects were escorted to Ruaraka and Pangani Police Stations for processing. All recovered exhibits have been secured for forensic analysis.
The suspects are expected to be arraigned in court today as investigations continue to trace additional suspects and dismantle the wider trafficking network.
The Kaduna State High Court has convicted and sentenced three persons to jail for internet fraud carried out via Facebook and TikTok in Kaduna State.
Aliyu Hassan, Samuel Olamide, and Solomon Joseph Christian were found guilty of separate one-count charges bordering on criminal impersonation and obtaining by false pretence.
The convictions were disclosed Tuesday, March 17, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission via its verified X account.
The anti-graft agency said its Kaduna Zonal Directorate secured the convictions before Justice A. Isiaka.
According to the statement, Hassan, also known as Ottaviani Loverules Giovanni, impersonated a Brazilian citizen on Facebook on February 9, 2026, and defrauded a victim, Kerry, of N90,000.
Three jailed, fined for Facebook, TikTok fraud in Kaduna
Olamide, alias Johnny, impersonated a United States citizen on TikTok on the same date and defrauded an American, identified as Jackie Sanders.
Three jailed, fined for Facebook, TikTok fraud in Kaduna
Similarly, Christian, also known as Jenort, impersonated another individual on Facebook in February 2026 and obtained $150 from his victim.
Three jailed, fined for Facebook, TikTok fraud in Kaduna
The EFCC said the offences contravened Section 142(1) of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.
It added that the defendants pleaded guilty, prompting the prosecution counsel, M.U. Gadaka, to urge the court to convict and sentence them accordingly.
Justice Isiaka subsequently sentenced each of the convicts to five years’ imprisonment, with an option of a N300,000 fine.
The court also ordered the forfeiture of items recovered from them to the Federal Government. Hassan forfeited N90,000 and a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 used in committing the offence; Olamide forfeited a Samsung Galaxy S21; while Christian forfeited an iPhone 14 Pro and $150, identified as proceeds of the crime.
The EFCC said the convicts were arrested in the Agwa/Kudende area of Kaduna following credible intelligence linking them to fraudulent internet activities.
One of the victims of Monday night’s explosion in Maiduguri, Borno State, Abacha Mustapha, has recounted the terrifying moment the blast went off, leaving him seriously injured.
Speaking with DailyTrust from his hospital bed on Tuesday at Umaru Shehu Hospital, Mustapha said he was preparing to leave the market after the day’s activities when the explosion occurred.
“We broke our fast and were about to leave after closing our shops when the first bomb detonated. I heard a loud sound, and suddenly my neck started bleeding,” he said.
The blast threw people into chaos as traders and residents scrambled for safety.
“It was chaotic. People were running in different directions. Some fell, others were shouting. I couldn’t even understand what had happened at first,” he added.
Mustapha said his brother, who was with him at the time, quickly came to his aid.
“My brother used his cloth to tie my neck to stop the bleeding before rushing me to the hospital. If not for him, I don’t know what would have happened,” he said.
Medical personnel at the hospital confirmed that several victims were brought in with varying injuries, including shrapnel wounds and burns.
Eyewitnesses said the blast struck at a busy time when traders were closing for the day, and residents were returning home after breaking their fast.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army raised the alarm over the possible deployment of multiple suicide bombers in Maiduguri, urging residents to avoid crowded places.
Monday’s coordinated attacks reportedly killed 23 people and injured 108 others.
Media Information Officer of the North-East Joint Task Force, Operation Hadin Kai, Lt. Col. Sanni Uba, said the attacks targeted crowded public areas to inflict mass casualties and create panic, identifying the affected locations as the Post Office area, Monday Market axis, and the entrance of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The Borno State Police Command confirmed the incident, noting that security operatives immediately secured the scenes.
“The scenes were immediately secured, cordoned off, and subjected to thorough sweep operations by Police Explosive Ordnance (EOD) Unit Base 13 Maiduguri to rule out the presence of any additional threats,” said the Police Public Relations Officer, Nahum Daso.
