Bandits have killed at least nine farmers in a raid on a village in northwestern Nigeria’s Kaduna State and kidnapped “several” others, according to a security report seen by AFP on Sunday and a local source.

Weeks into the annual rainy season, jihadists and criminal gangs — kidnappers for ransom and cattle thieves known locally as “bandits” — have stepped up attacks on farming communities in northern and central Nigeria that fail to pay the levies they impose.

Kaduna is one of several states in northern and central Nigeria impacted by the gangs, who raid villages, kill and kidnap residents for ransom and loot homes before burning them.

A security report prepared for the United Nations and seen by AFP on Sunday said the attackers on Saturday swept into the farmlands outside Kakangi village in Birnin Gwari district and shot farmers as they worked on their fields.

“Nine bodies have been recovered so far, with six of the victims identified by local authorities,” the report said.

Kabiru Ishaq, a community leader in Birnin Gwari, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) away, who visited the village to offer condolences, said 10 people were killed.

He said the attack was revenge for the killing of a bandit by farmers in a failed robbery attempt earlier the same day, with the report citing the same motive.

The bandit’s accomplice “returned with reinforcements and launched a retaliatory assault”, the report said.

Attacks on farming communities in the agrarian Birnin Gwari district have continued despite a November 2024 peace agreement brokered by local authorities between them and bandits.

Last month, at least six farmers were killed and 20 kidnapped in an attack on Danauta village in the district, according to local sources.

AFP

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 67-year-old Nigerian-British grandmother, Mrs Mary Barek, for allegedly attempting to smuggle 13 kilograms of cocaine concealed in fake plantain peels through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The agency stated that the suspect, who works as a caregiver in the United Kingdom, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the airport on Saturday, June 28, while attempting to board a Virgin Atlantic flight to London.

According to a statement on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, a thorough search of the suspect’s luggage led to the discovery of 31 large wraps of cocaine disguised as hands of plantain and packed alongside other food items.

Babafemi stated, “A thorough search of her bags resulted in the discovery of 31 big wraps of cocaine, which were packaged to appear like hands of plantain, weighing a total of 13 kilograms.

“In her statement, the elderly woman admitted full ownership of the recovered cocaine exhibits.”

He also announced the arrest of a 45-year-old PhD student at the University of Putra Malaysia, Nwabueze Felix Onyeka, over an attempt to export cocaine concealed inside cartons of Orijin Bitters bound for Kuala Lumpur.

Babafemi said Onyeka was arrested in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State on June 29 after investigators traced him as the alleged leader of a drug trafficking syndicate.

He disclosed that operatives had earlier intercepted 36 parcels of cocaine weighing 5.80 kilograms hidden within the walls of nine cartons of the herbal drink that formed part of a consolidated cargo destined for Malaysia.

According to him, four suspects were initially arrested in Lagos during the investigation, including the cargo agent, Alalade Taiwo Azeez; the driver who conveyed the consignment, Ndem Ogbonna Kelechi; a trader at ASPANDA Market, Trade Fair Complex, Okeke Tochukwu Chimezie; and Igwilo Chidi Henry, who allegedly supplied the cartons used to conceal the drugs.

Babafemi noted, “The efforts eventually paid off, leading to the unmasking of Nwabueze, who was hiding in his village, Aziora, Ozubulu, Anambra State, as the leader of the syndicate.”

In Taraba State, the NDLEA said its operatives arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Daniel Harrison Ugwuoke, along the Zaki-Biam Road in Wukari Local Government Area on Saturday, July 4.

The agency said 43,980 capsules of Tramadol were recovered from two vehicle fuel tanks specially modified to conceal the drugs.

Similarly, NDLEA operatives arrested Boniface Agu, 65, and Monday Nwaeze, 50, during a raid in Gwantu Local Government Area of Kaduna State on July 2, where they allegedly recovered 1.7 kilograms of methamphetamine.

In Ebonyi State, a 65-year-old suspect, Francis Ifara Eja, was arrested with 231.7 kilograms of skunk at Ikwo on July 4, while a 75-year-old suspect, Alhaji Babani, was apprehended with 15 kilograms of skunk at Kurgwi in Qua’anpan Local Government Area of Plateau State on July 3.

The agency also reported that two suspects, Dahiru Mohammed, 65, and Isiya Lawan, 36, were arrested in Gombe State on July 1 with 587 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 556 kilograms at Kuri Village in Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area.

Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said its commands nationwide sustained the War Against Drug Abuse campaign through sensitisation programmes in schools, workplaces, worship centres, and communities.

According to Babafemi, the awareness activities were conducted at Girls Secondary School, Abagana, Anambra State; Government Technical College, Obe, Enugu State; Adeola Odutola College, Ijebu Ode, Ogun State; and the FCE Staff Demonstration School, Kabuga, Kano State, among other locations.

Commending officers involved in the recent operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised the commands for combining enforcement with public enlightenment.

Babafemi quoted Marwa as saying he “commended the officers and men of MMIA, Taraba, Kaduna, Ebonyi, Plateau, and Gombe Commands for the arrests and seizures,” noting that “their drug supply reduction efforts, balanced with WADA sensitisation activities,” while charging them and other officers across the country to continue to raise the operational bar.

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A Delta State-based man, Michael James, has narrated why he allegedly staged a self-kidnapping scheme to extort N25m from his family.

James, in an interrogation video shared by the Delta State Police Public Relations Officer, Bright Edafe, on Sunday, said he resorted to the act because he owed his brother and sister money, which he had already spent and had no means of repaying.

He explained that on July 1, he was asked to dispose of refuse, but instead of returning home, he abandoned his wheelbarrow and hid in a nearby bush.

“My name is Michael James. I am from Edo State, but I live in Delta State. I kidnapped myself. The reason I kidnapped myself was that I owed my sister and my brother, and I had already spent the money. I had no way of paying it back.

“On the 1st of this month, they asked me to go and throw away the trash. After throwing away the trash, I parked my wheelbarrow and entered the bush.

“After some time, my mum started calling me, but I did not answer. Later, I called my mum and told her that I had been kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding N25m. Then I ended the call.”

The suspect added that he later called his mother again, claiming that his abductors were beating him and he had transferred N700,000 to them.

He said that after learning from his mother that the police and local vigilantes had launched efforts to rescue him, he became worried.

According to him, when it was about to rain later that day, he left the bush on a motorcycle to another location before calling his family to claim that he had escaped from his captors.

“They kept calling me, but I did not answer. Later, when I picked up, I told her that the kidnappers were flogging me and that she should transfer N700,000 to them.

“They kept calling again, but I did not answer. When I later picked up, my mum told me that the police and vigilantes were already handling the matter and that they would rescue me.

“In the evening, I realised it was about to rain, so I took a motorcycle to another place. I then called them and told them that I had escaped from the kidnappers,” James narrated.

Reacting, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Delta State Command, Bright Edafe, in a message accompanying the video, said the command swiftly responded to the reported kidnapping by deploying digital intelligence to trace the suspect’s location.

“We received a distress call that he was kidnapped. The command embarked on digitally generated intelligence and trailed him to where he was allegedly being kept, only for the suspect to run out, claiming he escaped from the kidnappers.

“He later confessed that he kidnapped himself so he could extort his family the sum of N25m,” Edafe wrote.

This is not the first time individuals have taken advantage of the rampant kidnapping incident to stage a self-kidnapping scheme to extort money.

PUNCH Metro reported on June 9 that the Ogun State Police Command arrested eight foreign nationals operating a self-kidnapping scheme to extort money from their families abroad in Adiyan town, in the Agbado area of the state.

The spokesperson for the command, Oluseyi Babaseyi, had stated that the arrest followed an intelligence-led operation into a reported kidnapping case, adding that investigations revealed that the acclaimed kidnapping was a staged abduction aimed at extorting money from unsuspecting family members.

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