Police Arrest 2 Wanted Fugitives Over Human Trafficking, Armed Robbery

 The Nigeria Police Force says it has arrested two suspected internationally wanted fugitives over human trafficking and armed robbery.

The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

Adejobi said that one of the suspects was a ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities while the second was a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang.

He added that the first suspect was the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation and had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice.

He disclosed that the notice was issued on Dec. 19, 2023, adding that the suspect was arrested in Benin, the Edo capital, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by police operatives.

The force PRO also said that the suspect was accused of trafficking young Nigerian women, including minors to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

He added that the victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging from £20,000 to £50,000 used to manipulate and control them.

According to him, the criminal network of the suspect involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remit proceeds to him.

”Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organisation leadership, the suspect fled to Nigeria.

”Upon his arrest, a search of his premises revealed incriminating materials, including a photocopy of a passport intended for a planned relocation to Canada.”

The police spokesman said the suspect has been scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin.

Adejobi said the second suspect was arrested by the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.

He said that the suspect was wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for series of serious crimes including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organised criminal activities.

He explained that intelligence had revealed that the suspect had continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.

The force image maker disclosed that the suspect had been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall.

”The arrest is the result of strategic intelligence sharing and operational collaboration between the Nigeria Police Force, the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), and the Dubai Police,” he said.

Adejobi said the suspect would soon be arraigned in court. (NAN)

 The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), has arrested 62,595 drug suspects and convicted 11,628 offenders between January 2021 to March 2025 across the 36 states and the FCT.

The NDLEA Chairman, retired, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa said this during the opening ceremony of a conference for Nigeria Governors Spouses on Tuesday in Abuja.

The event was organized by the NDLEA in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors Spouses’ Forum.

The theme is “Advanced Training on Drug Prevention Treatment and Care (DPTC) Stage 3 and Effective Management of the State Drug Control Committee.

Marwa said that over the past four years, the NDLEA had pursued this mission with renewed and unwavering zeal.

This, he said, was ensuring that Nigeria’s hard-won global and regional drug control successes were not merely preserved but expanded.

“Permit me to inform this distinguished gathering that over the four years, the NDLEA has deployed substantial resources towards a comprehensive assault on the drug problem, yielding significant outcomes.

“Under the drug supply reduction mandate, encompassing drug seizures, arrests, prosecutions, and convictions, we recorded the arrest of 62,595 drug suspects (Including 68 drug barons).

“We have seized 10,317,137.55 kilograms of assorted drugs, and secured the conviction of 11,628 offenders. Furthermore, 1,330.56553 hectares of cannabis farms were identified and destroyed,” he said.

Marwa said that equal emphasis had been placed on drug demand reduction to ensure a balanced approach in accordance with international best practices.

“Between January 2021 and March 2025, a total of 24,375 drug users received counselling and treatment at NDLEA facilities, primarily through brief interventions.

“Concurrently, 10,501 drug sensitisation programmes were conducted nationwide under the auspices of the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy campaign, reaching diverse target groups within communities.

“In parallel, a remarkable 3, 843, 789 participants were mobilised to partake in these enlightenment initiatives undertaken across the nation,” he said.

The NDLEA boss said that the agency had made intentional investments in the implementation of Drug Use Prevention strategies in recognising that prevention was invariably better than cure.

He said that those targeted interventions were vital in reducing risk factors and strengthening protective factors against substance abuse especially amongst vulnerable and marginalised populations, including our youth.

“However dark the hour, we must not surrender to despair.

“As patriots and vanguards of our nation’s well-being, it falls on us to strengthen our resolve, to move with deliberate speed towards practical and lasting resolutions that will, God willing, break the vicious cycle of drug abuse.

“This capacity building event represents a stride, small though it may seem, in the proper direction.

“Since it is at the community level that the burden of the drug menace is most acutely felt, it is vital that stakeholders, including all of us gathered here today, address the different dimensions of the problem from a community-centred perspective.

“This gathering must strive for common ground, developing indigenous and pragmatic solutions that go beyond mere statistics and harrowing headlines, addressing instead the real and harrowing human toll of drug abuse, ” he said

 The Police Command in Bauchi State says it has apprehended four individuals involved in the production of counterfeit herbicides in Inkil, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis.

The Command’s Spokesman, CSP Ahmed Wakil, made this known to newsmen on Sunday in Bauchi.

He said that the operation, based on credible intelligence, was conducted on May 3, around 1:30 p.

“The suspects were caught in the act at a residential property in the Unguwan Liman area, where authorities believed the illicit activity had been ongoing,” he said.

Wakil said the operation led to the seizure of a significant cache of counterfeit materials and equipment, including 26 cartons labeled “Force Up, an empty carton of “Gobora”.

Others are two drums filled with suspicious liquid, 100 empty one-litre “Force Up” containers and sealing tapes, scissors, glue, leather materials, charcoal, and welding tools.

“During interrogation, the suspects implicated a 36-year-old resident of Fadaman Mada, as the ringleader behind the illegal operation.

“He was swiftly tracked and apprehended,” Wakil said

He said that the suspects are in custody as investigations continue to uncover the extent of the counterfeit production and dismantle the network responsible.

Wakil reassured members of the public of the command’s commitment to eradicating criminal enterprises that threaten public safety and consumer trust