Connect with us

Crime

Sadiku: Report Exposes Terrorist Leader Behind Brutal Kwara Massacre

Published

on

Tuesday’s massacre in Woro, a remote community in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State, which left an estimated 176 residents dead, was not a random act of violence.

Investigations by Saturday PUNCH indicate that the attack was the culmination of what analysts describe as a calculated expansion of a jihadist front into Nigeria’s North-Central region, an advance that reportedly occurred despite prior warnings.

At the centre of the bloodshed is a terrorist commander identified as Abubakar Saidu, popularly known as Sadiku, whose violent footprint now stretches across multiple regions of the country.

From Shekau’s Lieutenant to North-Central Kingpin

Security sources trace Sadiku’s rise to 2014, when he was reportedly selected by the late Abubakar Shekau, then leader of Boko Haram, to expand the insurgent network beyond its North-East strongholds.

Over the years, sustained military pressure weakened Boko Haram’s bases in Borno and surrounding states, forcing splinter factions westward. Investigations suggest Sadiku embedded himself in forest corridors spanning Niger and Kwara states, steadily consolidating influence.

By 2026, some analysts now describe him as the “Shekau of the North-Central,” citing his operational independence and ideological rigidity.

A self-styled counterterrorism analyst on X, MobilisingNigeria, claimed Sadiku initially collaborated with notorious bandit leader Dogo Gide to expand influence into the North-Central terrain and later engaged with the Darul Islam faction before it was dismantled by police operations.

However, ideological disputes reportedly fractured these alliances, pushing Sadiku deeper into forest strongholds.

Kainji Forest: Nigeria’s ‘New Sambisa’

In July 2025, Sadiku is believed to have established a strategic base inside the Kainji Forest Reserve, a vast territory stretching across Niger and Kwara states.

See also  Carpenter Arrested For Stealing His Client's Expensive Plasma Televisions

Security experts describe Kainji as Nigeria’s “new Sambisa,” referencing the Sambisa Forest that long served as Boko Haram’s operational base in the North-East.

A Kwara-based security analyst, Hassan (surname withheld), told Saturday PUNCH that the relocation signalled a dangerous insurgent expansion westward.

“For over a decade, Boko Haram violence was concentrated in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa. Now splinter factions are exploiting forests, porous borders and weak security presence to push westward,” he said.

The reserve now allegedly functions as a logistical corridor linking insurgents in the North-East with armed groups in the North-West.

Possible JNIM Links

West and East Africa security tracker Brandon Phillips linked Sadiku’s faction to the Woro massacre, noting that the attack occurred less than four kilometres from Nuku, where Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda affiliate in the Sahel, claimed its first attack in Nigeria in October 2025.

Phillips suggested the proximity indicates possible operational overlap between JNIM and Sadiku’s Boko Haram faction — either through cooperation or a non-aggression understanding.

He further noted similarities between the Woro killings and recent attacks in Papiri, Niger State, indicating a continued southward push toward Kainji-dominated territory.

Another researcher, Raheem Mutiu, said JNIM fighters were spreading across Kaiama, Baruten and Borgu areas, consolidating influence after the arrest of a local factional leader in August 2025.

African conflict analyst James Barnett observed that the brutality of the Woro massacre marked a shift from previous factions that had largely limited violence to retaliation against military operations.

The Warning Letter

Findings reveal that Woro community had received prior warning.

See also  Tinubu orders further forensic probe into fake agency scandal

The village head, Salihu Umar, confirmed that a letter written in Hausa and dated 19 Rajab 1447 (January 8) was delivered to him about three weeks before the massacre.

The letter, signed by “JAS” (an acronym associated with Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’adati wal-Jihad), stated that the group intended to “secretly” meet community leaders to preach and would not harm residents.

Umar said he photocopied the letter and submitted it to the Kaiama Emirate and forwarded a soft copy to the Department of State Services office in Kaiama.

The Execution

Eyewitnesses said the attackers arrived around 5pm on motorcycles, armed with AK-47 rifles and explosives.

They reportedly blocked exit routes and stormed the Emir’s palace at about 6pm, dragging out family members and setting the building ablaze.

Between 6.30pm and 8 pm, survivors described what they called an “execution phase,” during which men were rounded up, hands bound, and killed.

A military aircraft reportedly appeared around 8 pm, forcing the attackers into nearby bushes. Some residents emerged from hiding around 9 pm, believing the threat had passed.

However, the assailants regrouped and allegedly used the call to prayer as a ruse to lure residents out before resuming killings.

The violence subsided around 2 am as the attackers retreated into the forest with abducted women and children.

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

TUMBLR

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Crime

Alleged cybercrime: DSS suspends Sowore’s case until after 2027 polls

Published

on

The Department of State Services, DSS, has asked its private counsel, Akinolu Kehinde, SAN, to suspend the alleged cyberbullying case instituted against African Action Congress, AAC, presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, until after the 2027 presidential election.

The development followed a meeting between the Director-General of the DSS, Tosin Ajayi, the senior lawyer and top officials of the agency’s Legal Directorate.

The move is aimed at allowing the human rights activist to fully participate in the 2027 elections.

According to Vanguard, a DSS source said Ajayi directed the lawyer and officials of the Directorate of Legal Services that, with the commencement of presidential campaigns, it would only be fair to pause the case.

The source further stated that the case, having been in court for nearly a year, could be suspended for another four months without making much difference.

“The DSS boss told the lawyers that, since the matter had been in court for nearly a year, suspending it for another four months wouldn’t make much difference,” the source added.

According to the source, the DSS is expected to formally communicate its decision to suspend the case to the Federal High Court from September 14, 2026, when the court is scheduled to resume normal sittings after the annual judicial vacation.

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

See also  PHOTOS: Nigerian Army rescues 12 abducted teenage girls in Askira/Uba, Borno
Continue Reading

Crime

PHOTOS: NDLEA intercepts N6.2bn worth of ‘Jihadi drug’ in Ghana soap, opioids at Lagos airport

Published

on

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of captagon, widely known as ‘Jihadi drug’ and millions of opioid pills worth over N6.2 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja Lagos.

The captagon shipment was seized at the Lagos airport on Saturday 22nd August 2026 following the arrest of a 49-year-old cross-border kingpin Akinbile Kazeem Aikins, who arrived from Accra Ghana aboard an African World Airlines flight.

A search of his carton of local bathing soap, popularly called “Ghana Soap,” led to the recovery of 47,200 pills of the illicit amphetamine drug worth over N1.5 billion concealed within blocks of soap. Captagon, which is notoriously dubbed the ‘Jihadi drug’ for its use in funding extremist activities in conflict zones, was first intercepted in Nigeria by NDLEA in September 2021 at the Apapa port in Lagos. After his arrest, Akinbile claimed he was meant to deliver the consignment in the North.

In another successful interdiction operation at the Lagos airport, no fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilograms and more than N4.6 billion in street value, were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of the MMIA. Three of the consignments, comprising 900,000 tablets of Tramaking (815.40kg), arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh, while a fourth, comprising 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol (1,972kg), arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.

The shipments, which had been placed under close watch after no one showed up to claim them, were formally retrieved after a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other stakeholders on Friday 28th August.

See also  Tinubu orders further forensic probe into fake agency scandal

A 31-year-old US-returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun was on 19th August arrested by NDLEA operatives at Ikate area of Lekki after he showed up to take delivery of 3.350 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.

Fireproof safe cracked open in Rivers drug den raid

In Rivers state, NDLEA operatives have raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt where they recovered a fireproof iron safe among other items. When the safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday 25th August, 237 grams of colorado; 316 grams of cocaine, and 10 grams of heroin were recovered from it.

Three suspects: Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were on Friday 28th August nabbed at Ipele-Idoani road, in Ondo state with a total of 728kg skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB. Two other suspects: Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest with 341kg of same substance on Wednesday 26th August.
In Delta state, over 176,000 pills of assorted opioids including tramadol, molly and others were recovered from two interdiction operations in parts of the state between Wednesday 26th and Friday 28th August.

With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo LGA, Kano; youths at the adolescent lifestyle programme organised by NNPCL in Benin city, Edo state; while the Ondo State Command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, with the Taraba state command of the Agency paying a similar advocacy visit to the State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, among others.

See also  PHOTOS: Man arrested for allegedly r@ping 3-year-old girl in Plateau community

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Ondo, and Delta Commands for the various successful operations, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd) enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.

He also directed them to sustain the momentum against drug traffickers who are desperate to explore every means, including concealment in everyday household items like soap, to move their illicit consignments.

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading

Crime

PHOTOS: Benue varsity student arrested for pouring hot water on roommate

Published

on

The Benue State Police Command has arrested a 500-level student of Fr Moses Adasu University, formerly Benue State University, for allegedly attacking a neighbour with hot water. LawEnforcement

The spokesperson for the command, DSP Peter Aondongu, who confirmed the incident in a statement on Saturday, August 29, 2026 said that an investigation had commenced to unravel the cause of fighting between the two students.

“Yes, it happened yesterday, Friday, August 28, 2026. From the information I have, both students were staying in the same room and had an issue. The suspect allegedly boiled water, added salt and pepper, and poured the mixture on the victim and then locked her inside,” the PPRO said.

“After some time, people became aware of what had happened and were able to intervene and rescue the victim. She was subsequently taken to the hospital for treatment, while the suspect was arrested.

“I don’t have much information yet about the genesis of the disagreement or what led to the incident, but I can confirm that the incident happened. I also understand that both of them are students of the Benue State University.”

Narrating what might have transpired between the two female students, the Students’ Union President, Akighirga Vitalis, who led members of his executive to the hospital, said that Rose explained that there was a disagreement with the suspect identified as Felicia, which allegedly escalated into the violent attack.

Vitalis said that the duo had been living together before disagreements over personal matters began to strain their relationship.

See also  Bandits kill Ondo monarch

While expressing shock over the condition of the student and condemning the alleged attack, Vitalis described it as “a grave and unacceptable assault on the life and well-being of a fellow student.”

“We are deeply concerned about this incident. The Students’ Union will follow this matter closely until justice prevails,” he said.

The union president assured all that the union would engage relevant authorities and monitor the investigation, as well as any disciplinary process that may arise within the university.

Vitalis said that if the allegations against Felicia are established through due process, the Students’ Union would support the application of appropriate sanctions under the university’s regulations, including expulsion where warranted.

“The Students’ Union will not condone violence or any conduct capable of endangering the life of another student,” Vitalis added.

FOLLOW US ON:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

TIKTOK

YOUTUBE

LINKEDIN

INSTAGRAM

Continue Reading

Trending