Metro News

The bloodthirsty Sarkin: I don’t kidnap, I only kill people – Zamfara deadly terrorist Aleru

Published

4 years ago

July 23, 2022

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Notorious Zamfara bandit, Ada Aleru, who was recently turbaned as the Sarkin Fulani Yandoton Daji Emirate (the head of the Fulani in Yandoton Daji), has confessed that he does not kidnap people but kills people.

Recall that the coronation of Aleru, who is the leading terrorist in Tsafe and Faskari axis of Zamfara and Katsina states, generated public outcry across the country.

The state government, subsequently, suspended the Emir of the town, Aliyu Marafa, who conferred the title on Mr Aleru, who is wanted in neighbouring Katsina State for mass killings.

The Katsina government placed a bounty of N5 million on information leading to the arrest of Mr Aleru, who is accused of killing 52 people in Kadisau, a community in Faskari Local Government in 2019.

Meanwhile, in his first and only known interview with the media, Aleru told the BBC that he is angry with Hausas and the Nigerian government.

In a documentary titled “The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara” billed to be aired 25 July 2022, Aleru said while his men kidnap people, he is only interested in killing people.

“My men do that; I just go and kill them (people),” Mr Aleru said.

An unnamed associate of Aleru told the BBC Africa Eye team that “the Fulani are systematically excluded from government jobs and other economic opportunities, and that the Nigerian air force attacks innocent Fulani herders and kills their cattle. “How have the Fulani become so worthless in Nigeria?,” he asks.”

He lamented that the grazing routes the Fulani relied on upon have been closed off while land and water have become very scarce.

The BBC also interviewed the terrorists who abducted pupils from the Government Girls Secondary School in Jangebe, Talata Mafara local government area of Zamfara State.

While the state government insisted that no ransom was paid, the unnamed bandit said they were paying N60 million before they released the pupils.

When asked what they did with the money, he said, “We bought more rifles.”

Distressing scenes, including that of a boy dying from a gunshot wound, were also released in the documentary.

“I remember how he raised his head to look at me while he was in that condition,” the boy’s father told the BBC. “It pains me how much my boy suffered…I am devastated.”

The BBC said it gathered that the teenage boy, whose sister was among the abducted Jangebe school girls, was killed by security forces.

Part of the findings by the documentary team was the growing bitterness against the Fulani community by the Hausa community, which was evident in the encounter between the team and residents of Kurfar Danya.

“If allowed, we will kill every Fulani man, even in the town,” says one of the vigilantes, “because they killed our mothers, our fathers, our children, and dumped their bodies here.” A resident declared in protest the killing of over 200 people by the terrorists.

Residents took the reporter to sites of mass graves. The documentary further confirms that the violence in the region is largely aggravated by vengeance, rather than protection. The vigilante groups are largely residents of Hausa communities.

“Many Nigerians are, quite rightly, disturbed by the idea that the violence contains elements of an ethnic conflict. But that is the inescapable conclusion from listening to the voices in this film,” the BBC said in a statement announcing the release of the documentary.

“It’s obvious it is tribal,” says Hassan Dantawaye, a terrorist who was among the first Fulani men to bring guns into Zamfara and take up arms at the head of a terror gang. “If not, how can someone pass settlements but burn down only the Fulani ones? Why would a Fulani kill an innocent Hausa? Clearly, it’s a tribal conflict.”

The BBC Africa Eye said the documentary seeks to offer its contribution towards the unravelling of the conflict.

“The Bandit Warlords of Zamfara offers no simple explanation for the crisis that is destroying lives across northwestern Nigeria. But it does reveal, with painful clarity, the human cost of violence. There are mothers here who have seen their children slaughtered in front of their eyes, families who have been displaced from their homes, and schoolchildren who are still traumatized by the nightmare of abduction and captivity.

“If Nigeria is ever to solve this crisis, the first step is to understand it. With this film, Yusuf Anka and BBC Africa Eye have made an important contribution towards that understanding.”

Metro News

NDLEA arrests South African woman with drug shipments, seizes large consignment of drugs at Lagos airport

Published

16 hours ago

October 11, 2026

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a South African, Gebashe Sithandiwe Jessie, with 30 parcels of Thai Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 32.74 kilogrammes, at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, Rivers State.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the drugs were concealed in two travelling bags.

The statement added that the suspect travelled from Thailand through Doha aboard Qatar Airways flight QR1431.

“She confessed to having previously trafficked through other African countries, and was expanding her route to Port Harcourt when she was caught.”

Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, intercepted a shipment of 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg weighing 307.20kg from Pakistan.

Babafemi said the consignment arrived aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight on September 29 and was placed under surveillance before a joint examination on Tuesday, October 6, uncovered the drugs in nine cartons.

In a separate operation at the Lagos airport, NDLEA officers intercepted 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabinoid, weighing 75.90kg in six Ghana-Must-Go bags contained in a consolidated cargo from the United Kingdom.

The statement said the shipment was monitored after arriving on September 29.

A clearing agent, John Edrah, 54, was arrested on September 30, while an Uber driver, Taofiq Ajibola, 54, was apprehended while collecting one of the bags at a logistics company in Mafoluku, Oshodi.

The agency said Adetunji Adebayo and Kazeem Damola Dosunmu, 48, a clothing trader, were subsequently arrested when they came to collect the remaining five bags.

According to Babafemi, Ajibola said the drugs were sent by a UK-based associate, Lukman Sa’idu, while Dosunmu claimed his consignment came from another UK-based man identified as Yusuf.

In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives arrested 46-year-old Adama Inuwa at Iyala Nkun village, Ikom Local Government Area, on Sunday, October 4, following surveillance.

Babafemi said the operation led to the recovery of 181 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 1,100kg and 17.15kg of cannabis seeds.

In Edo State, officers intercepted a black Toyota Camry conveying 1,049 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 702.83kg at Otuo, Owan East Local Government Area, on Monday, October 5.

The agency said Monday Orji, 52; Monday Lawal, 40; and Precious Uduegele, 20, were arrested in connection with the seizure.

In a separate raid at Asoro, off Sakponba Road, Benin City, operatives arrested 26-year-old Ojugo Mercy with 989 grammes of Loud, 13 grammes of Colorado and 83 grammes of methamphetamine.

In Ondo State, a 21-year-old suspect, Happy Endurance, was arrested at her hideout in the Shasha area of Akure on October 5, with 29 bags of cannabis weighing 290kg.

The statement added that a separate raid on an apartment at Oba-Ile, Akure, on the same day led to the arrest of 42-year-old Tunde Adebayo, with 35 bags of cannabis weighing 351kg.

In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives, supported by soldiers, arrested Abdulrasheed Mohamed, 31, and Abubakar Saidu, 37, at Chanchanji village, Wukari Local Government Area, on Friday, October 9.

Babafemi said the suspects were found with 166,200 tablets of tramadol 225mg weighing 107kg.

In Kano State, a stop-and-search operation along the Kano-Maiduguri Road on October 9 led to the arrest of 32-year-old Yahaya Musa with 24,990 capsules of tramadol, 50,000 tablets of diazepam and 22,000 tablets of Exol-5.

In Kaduna State, operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Kaduna Expressway arrested 29-year-old Mohammed Musa with 31 jumbo bags and 775 blocks of skunk weighing a combined 1,027kg.

The agency also arrested Musbau Balogun Adekunle in Orile, Lagos, on Tuesday, October 6, with 32.51kg of skunk and 52.65kg of cannabis seeds, bringing the total seizure to 85.16kg.

In Plateau State, NDLEA operatives raided the residence of 45-year-old Christian Chukwudi Uju at Rukuba Road, Jos, on Thursday, October 8, recovering methamphetamine, firearms and ammunition.

According to the statement, the items seized included 47 grammes of methamphetamine, two pump-action rifles, one locally made gun, 199 live cartridges, five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition and one round of 9mm ammunition.

The agency said its War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaign also continued across the country, with lectures delivered to students and staff of schools in Oyo, Ebonyi, Niger, Kano, Lagos and Ogun states.

Among the institutions reached were Progressive Grammar School, Tede, Oyo State; Eghugo Technical College, Afikpo, Ebonyi State; Baptist High School, Lambata, Niger State; and Ipara Senior and Junior Community Secondary School, Badagry, Lagos State.

Commending officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised personnel of the Lagos, MMIA, PHIA, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River, Ondo and Plateau Commands.

Babafemi said Marwa commended the officers “for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations” and urged them “to continue with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.”

Metro News

NDLEA arrests 83-year-old ex-convict with Colorado, meth in Abia

Published

18 hours ago

October 11, 2026

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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency have rearrested an 83-year-old grandmother, Uloma Uchechi Sunday, with consignments of methamphetamine and Colorado.

The arrest comes barely a year after the grandmother was convicted of drug-related offences.

Uloma was first arrested on May 17, 2025, alongside her 32-year-old daughter, Chisom Uchechi, at the same residence.

This was disclosed in a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.

According to Babafemi, the octogenarian was arrested on Wednesday, October 7, at her residence in Ite-Uzo, Umuaguma, Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State, with the substances allegedly tied around her waist with a wrapper.

Her arrest followed credible intelligence indicating that she operated a notorious drug joint allegedly harbouring criminal elements terrorising the community.

During her first arrest in May, operatives recovered 50 grammes of methamphetamine, 522 grammes of skunk, 260 grammes of fresh cannabis leaves and 12 grammes of tramadol from the Uloma and her daughter.

According to the statement, “Both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment or a fine of N200,000 each. They paid the fine and were released by the court”

The NDLEA spokesman alleged that the elderly woman returned to the illicit drug trade after her release.

“Undeterred, the notorious old woman promptly returned to the criminal trade and escalated the scale by setting up a drug joint where she harbours dangerous characters,” the statement added.

Metro News

Varsity lecturer dies after sex romp with prostitute in hotel room

Published

5 days ago

October 7, 2026

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A senior lecturer at the Edo State-owned Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, identified as Dr. Matthew Uwuigbe, has repeatedly died in a hotel room after an alleged sexual encounter with a 21-year-old commercial sex worker, identified as Angela Defa Jacob.

The incident, according to a report by Punch online, happened on Sunday at a hotel in the Mosco area of Ekpoma, Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

It was gathered that the lecturer had checked into the hotel with the sex worker and died moments after the romp.

Spokesperson for the Edo State Police Command, Eno Ikoedem, who confirmed the incident, said three persons have been arrested in connection with the incident.

She said, “On October 5, 2026, at about 8 pm, the command received a report that Matthew Uwuigbe, a lecturer at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, had lodged at a hotel in Ekpoma and engaged the services of a 21-year-old sex worker, Angela Defa Jacob.

“He subsequently sent the woman to purchase water for him, and upon her return, she found him lying dead in the room.”

Ikoedem said the hotel owner, the manager and the sex worker are currently in custody while investigation continues. The corpse, she added, has been deposited at the Oriaifo Memorial Hospital mortuary.

The university’s Public Relations Officer, Otunba Mike Ade Aladenika, confirmed that Uwuigbe is a staff member of the institution, but said the incident occurred outside the campus.

“We are not denying that he is our staff, but whatever he did and what happened, it is his private life. The girl in question is not our student, and everything happened outside our institution,” he told the News outlet.