DEFENCE
Father of 11-year-old boy Buried Alive on the Run
Mr Oshodi, the father of the 11-year-old boy allegedly buried alive by his stepbrother at Apamsede, in Kogi, is said to be on the run.
Reports gathered that the shovel and the cutlass allegedly used to perpetrate the dastardly act by the stepbrother were also missing.
Passers-by rescued the 11-year-old on Wednesday after he had been buried by his stepbrother in a bush at the Silo community in Zango Daji, the Adavi Local Government Area of the state.
The 11-year-old boy was alleged to have stolen N1,000 belonging to his stepmother who instructed her son to punish him.
In meting punishment to the 11-year-old, the 17-year-old took his stepbrother into the bush where he allegedly buried him alive.
The Police Public Relation Officer, Kogi Command, SP Williams Ovye-Aya, had told NAN that Oshodi travelled and that the police were waiting for him to return for his own side of the story.
When NAN visited Apamsede community on Saturday, it was revealed that the father of the victim had absconded and that when the incident happened the father of the victim was at home.
The district head of Apamsede, Malam Garba Ahmed told NAN that on the day of the incident, the father of the 11-year-old boy, the stepmother and the stepson were summoned to the palace of the traditional ruler on what led to such act.
“When they came to the chief’s palace, Mr Oshodi, the father of the 11-year-old boy was present at the palace when both the stepson and stepmother gave reasons for their action,” the district Ahmed explained.
“The boy’s father probably ran away when we insisted on inviting the police to handle the matter.
“The stepmother and her son, Goodness, had confessed to committing the dastardly act.
“But the traditional council of our community has decided not to harbour such people in our land.
“Once the stepmother and her son finished facing the wrath of the law, we shall banish them from this land.
“But before we banish them, we will ensure that the family offer a sacrifice to cleanse the land,” he said.
NAN reports that the police team who brought the boy’s stepmother to their house in Apamsede on Saturday morning discovered that the shovel and cutlass allegedly used in burying the teenager were missing.
Although the house was under lock and key, the police team observed that there were some changes in the environment unlike what they saw on Friday during their visit.
“Somebody must have entered this your house. Yesterday, when we came here the house was locked and the window curtain inside wasn’t down as we can see now.
“Some of the things that we met outside here yesterday are no more here. Somebody must have come around here.”
The police who had to break the lock and key to gain entrance into the house when the woman claimed that she had no key to the house, alleged that most of the things inside the house had been taken away.
“Where’s the shovel and cutlass you said were in the house? This is because nothing is here. Somebody must have packed the valuables here,” one of the officers said.(NAN)
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recovered over 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs in raids and interdiction operations across Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano respectively.
The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
Giving a breakdown, Babafemi said that two separate arrests at Ughelli and Asaba, Delta State yielded a haul of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam (hypnox) and MDMA (Molly).
He said that several of them were concealed in music speakers, while two suspects were arrested.
Also, in Kano, a raid at Sabon Gari led to the arrest of a 20-year-old suspect with a staggering 785,000 capsules of Pregabalin weighing 669.425kg.
Similarly, Babafemi said that a stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road netted 1,700 tablets of diazepam concealed inside loaves of bread seized from another suspect.
He added that a 51-year-old man was also nabbed at Katako market, Jos, with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
He also added that the agency also sustained pressure on illicit cannabis cultivation with the destruction of 4,832.56 kilograms of skunk on cannabis farms.
The NDLEA spokesman said that the farms which were at Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, in Ovia South West, Owan East and Owan West LGA, Edo state had a suspect arrested on Friday.
In another development, NDLEA operatives in Ondo, acting on credible intelligence on Wednesday, raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, Akure.
Babafemi said that they recovered 186kg of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV, from a 58-year-old suspect who was planning to move the consignment to Jos for onward distribution.
Additionally, in Kaduna, a female suspect was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6kg of cannabis, while in Bayelsa, four suspects including a 70-year-old woman were arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, with 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876kg.
Babafemi quoted the NDLEA chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, commending the officers and men of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa, and Kano Commands for the various successful operations.
Marwa enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.
He charged them to continue to shut every pipeline being used by drug cartels, whether at the airports, seaports, land borders, or in the hinterland where cannabis was cultivated.(NAN)
The Anambra Police Command said it has rescued three kidnap victims and arrested 57 suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, cult-related violence, murder and other offences in the state.
The Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Nnanna Ama, disclosed this during the weekend, during an operational visit to the command Headquarters in Awka, by the Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) zone 13, Ukpo, Miller Dantawye.
“The command has rescued three kidnapped victims and arrested 57 suspects in connection with kidnapping, armed robbery, cult-related violence, murder and other serious offences,” he said.
Ama, who presented the command’s scorecard over the past one month during the visit, also said that 18 assorted firearms and 43 rounds of ammunition were recovered.
He said within the period under review that the command destroyed a criminal camp which significantly disrupted criminal operations within the state.
The CP attributed the results to coordinated intelligence gathering, targeted tactical operations, strategic deployment and sustained pressure on identified criminal networks.
He said that the feat was achieved by the command’s tactical units, Area Commands and divisional formations, working with other security agencies and relevant stakeholders.
The CP promised that the command would not relent in its offensive against criminal elements across the state.
He noted that operational priorities would continue to centre on intelligence development, precision deployment, aggressive patrols, rapid response, disruption of criminal hideouts and sustained pressure on identified criminal networks.
Ama directed operational commanders and personnel to remain proactive, maintain heightened vigilance and continuously adapt deployment strategies in response to emerging crime patterns and intelligence.
He also reaffirmed the command’s determination to deny criminals freedom of action and to ensure that the state remained hostile to kidnapping, armed robbery, cult violence and other forms of organised crime.
Responding, Dantawye commended the command and described the operational results as encouraging.
He urged officers and men of the command to build on the gains through discipline, professionalism, courage, effective supervision and strict adherence to the rule of law.
The AIG placed particular emphasis on intelligence gathering and utilisation, directing personnel to deepen intelligence networks, strengthen community engagement and translate actionable information into timely operational interventions.
He further charged commanders to intensify operations against kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism, drug-related offences and other violent crimes and to conduct every operation professionally, and lawfully with respect for human rights.
Dantawye also emphasised the importance of public confidence, urging personnel to maintain respectful and responsive engagement with members of the public.
He noted that credible intelligence and community cooperation remained critical force mobilisers in modern policing.(NAN)
By David Torough, Abuja
The Nigerian Army has denied reports that a group of Islamic scholars were abducted at the residence of former Zamfara State governor and Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of the state.
The Army, through the Headquarters 8 Division/Sector 2 Joint Task Force North West, Operation FANSAN YAMMA, described the reports circulating on various media platforms as misleading and false.
In a statement issued on Sunday, September 13, 2026, the Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, 8 Division, Nigerian Army/Sector 2 Operation FANSAN YAMMA, Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba, said no cleric was abducted at Senator Yari’s residence.
According to the statement, intelligence reports indicated that some persons were abducted while travelling from the Sububu forest axis in Bakura Local Government Area towards Talata Mafara.
The Army said troops, working closely with other security agencies and local intelligence networks, had intensified efforts to rescue the victims.
It urged members of the public to disregard what it described as sensationalised narratives and unverified information that could create unnecessary panic or compromise ongoing tactical operations.
The military also called on residents to remain calm and vigilant while providing security agencies with timely and actionable intelligence to support efforts to secure the safe release of the abducted persons.
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