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Boko Haram Kills Two Colonels, Two Captains, 25 Soldiers …Bandits Kill 20 Persons In Sokoto
An Army commander, and at least, 20 soldiers have been killed in an ambush by Boko Haram insurgents in Yobe State.
The troops were ambushed on their way from Borogozo in Yobe where the headquarters of the army’s 29 task force brigade to Benisheikh in Yobe, where they have a forward operating base (FOB).
A military source in Sector 2 Headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole told newsmen that the incident happened around 6pm, last Wednesday.
“They were on their way to Benisheikh when they ran into the enemy. The commander of that brigade, a colonel, and about 20 soldiers were killed,” he said.
A reinforcement was reportedly sent to the town and it was confirmed that the brigade commander had been killed.
Among the bodies reportedly identified were that of a captain and four soldiers. Their bodies have since been moved to the 7 Division Hospital in Maiduguri, Borno State capital.
Sources said one of the soldiers who escaped the ambush has returned to the base in Benisheikh.
In June, at least, 28 soldiers were reportedly killed while the insurgents ransacked a military base in Gajiram, Nganzai Local Government Area of Borno.
However, suspected armed bandits have killed over 20 persons in Dan Tatsako village in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.
A source in the local government says the assailants arrived in the village at night armed with sophisticated weapons and started shooting sporadically.
He says apart from the 20 persons killed, houses and other properties were destroyed by the bandits.
He explains that survivors of the attack fled the village to seek refuge in nearby communities within Goronyo and Isa Local Government areas of Sokoto State.
The Sokoto State Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Sadiq, who also confirmed the attack, says the casualty figures are yet to be ascertained.
Meanwhile, an Army colonel, a captain and his four escorts, as well as driver, have been killed by rampaging Boko Haram insurgents between Mainok and Jakana along Damaturu/Maiduguri highway.
Sources revealed the Colonel and his convoy ran into some fleeing insurgents after a heavy gunfire exchange with soldiers at Jakana in an attack that lasted for hours.
A military source, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, denied insinuations that it was an ambush.
He said: “The Colonel with his escort was just unlucky to run into the insurgents on his way from Maiduguri to Damaturu without knowledge of the ongoing attack on the highway”.
The source also confirmed that the Colonel is from 29 Task Force Brigade of Sector II of Operation Lafiya Dole.
The source also informed that the insurgents were dealt a heavy blow as one of their gun trucks was burnt and several of them killed.
Another source informed that two civilians were killed in the Jakana attack from stray bullets.
The heavily-armed fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group were reported to have opened fire on a patrol vehicle last Wednesday near Jakana, 30 kilometres (18 miles) from Maiduguri, the state capital, killing all the soldiers on board.
“We lost all six soldiers in the ambush, including a colonel,” said the first of two military sources, who both spoke on condition of anonymity.
The soldiers were on their way to Maiduguri from Damaturu, the capital of neighbouring Yobe State, when the jihadists attacked them around 1620 GMT, said the source.
“The gun truck the soldiers were driving in was destroyed,” the second source said.
Following the ambush, the jihadists attacked a military base just outside Jakana in seven trucks fitted with machine guns, engaging troops in an hour-long battle, the sources said.
The attack was repelled by soldiers at the base, with ISWAP fighters abandoning weapons and one vehicle as they fled.
The attacks came hours after a military chief in the North-East warned terrorists in the region to disarm or be destroyed.
Major-General Abdulmalik Bulama Biu told reporters in Maiduguri that the jihadists should lay down their arms “or prepare for a fierce encounter with me”.
Meanwhile, travellers have continued to experience hardship along Maiduguri/Damaturu highway as soldiers mostly closed the use of the high way at any time they want.
Spokesman of the Nigeria Army Sector II, Lt. Njoka Irabor said: “The information available to me is still sketchy. I honestly don’t have any details now but I will get back to you as soon as possible”.
The 120-km Maiduguri-Damaturu road has seen repeated attacks, on military bases and markets in villages like Jakana, committed by ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters — the two jihadist factions operating in the region.
In December, last year, at least, 13 soldiers were killed in an ISWAP ambush near Kareto village along the highway.
The jihadists have also carried out several attacks on motorists on the highway, killing passengers and burning vehicles.
After nearly a decade, the insurgency in North-East Nigeria rages on, spilling into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
More than 27,000 people have been killed and some two million forced to flee their homes.
Complicating the conflict further was a split within Boko Haram in 2016, which saw the breaking away of ISWAP, a group that has sworn allegiance to IS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Similarly, unidentified gunmen have killed two soldiers and abducted an expatriate at the road construction site in Ukanafun Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The incident was said to have occurred, last Wednesday afternoon as the expatriate engineer working with Al Madal Construction Company was inspecting the construction of Ikot Ibritam, Inen Ekeffe and Odoro Ikot to Ukanafun road project awarded by Akwa Ibom State Government.
An eyewitness, Mr Friday Idiok told newsmen that the two soldiers were killed while escorting the expatriate on routine inspection of the road project along Idim Okpok mini-bridge in Inen Ekeffe, the boundary village between Oruk Anam and Ukanafun Local Government Area of the state.
Idiok said the gunmen whisked the expatriate engineer away immediately the two soldiers were shot dead on the spot, and residents ran away for fear of arrest by security operatives.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle illicit substances concealed in carton walls, winter jackets, and body cream containers through Murtala Muhammed International Airport and a Lagos-based courier firm.
The agency said two consignments bound for Italy were intercepted at the Lagos airport, leading to the arrest of suspects linked to the shipments.
In a statement released yesterday, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said one of the suspects, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was intercepted on Friday, March 20, 2026, while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Rome, Italy.
The statement partly read, “Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
“One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was going to Rome, Italy on Friday, March 20, 2026, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin-lightening body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
“In his statement, Ehianuka, who is a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.”
In another operation on Wednesday, March 18, Babafemi said NDLEA officers at the departure hall intercepted another passenger, Christian Agbonhese, attempting to board a Lufthansa flight to Milan.
A search of his luggage uncovered 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg, 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg, and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg concealed in two large winter jackets.
“No fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg; and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills. The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan,” the statement added.
In a separate operation at a courier firm in Lagos, Babafemi said NDLEA officers on Monday, March 16, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped from the United States.
“Also thwarted was an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand,” he said.
In Kano State, operatives arrested Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was nabbed at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same substance.
Babafemi said the agency also recovered 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup during a raid at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos on Wednesday, March 18, adding that two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested the same day on the Third Mainland Bridge while conveying 8,380 bottles of the syrup.
In Edo State, operatives recovered 97.5kg of skunk from the residence of Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on March 16.
In the FCT, officers intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada Expressway on March 18, recovering 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in body compartments of the vehicle. The driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was arrested.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was on Tuesday, March 17, arrested at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa LGA, with 71.2kg of skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
In a similar development, “Not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas, 28, along Kaduna-Zaria Highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, March 17, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu, 22, at the same location on Friday, March 20,” Babafemi said.
In Taraba State, officers intercepted Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo Highway with 77,660 capsules of tramadol, while in Adamawa State, six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola.
The suspects include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim, and Musa Mohammed.
The agency said its commands across the country also intensified War Against Drug Abuse sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres, and communities during the week.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the balanced approach to drug control efforts.
News
RSG Applauds FRSC, NDLEA For Enhancing Security In Rivers …As NDLEA Pushes For Drug Tests In Schools, NYSC Camps
The Rivers State Government has commended the dedication and collaboration of federal government agencies in sustaining security in the State.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the State Commander of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), CN Bature Dawa, in Port Harcourt, last week, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Dagogo Wokoma, said Governor Siminalayi Fubara appreciates the strong synergy between the agencies in promoting his administration’s vision of peace, prosperity and progress in the State.
Wokoma urged residents to remain law-abiding, noting that respect for the law is essential for good governance and sustainable development in all parts of the state.
He stated that the governor has remained committed to initiatives that promote peace and social order, stressing that the administration will continue to support programmes of federal agencies aimed at strengthening security and public safety.
“Our governor is committed to peace, progress and prosperity in Rivers State. I therefore encourage all residents, especially young people who are often targeted by those involved in drug abuse, to stay away from drugs, crime and reckless driving,” he said.
In his remarks, the State NDLEA boss, Dawa, disclosed that the agency has arrested 39 suspects in the state from December 2025 to date, including 16 new cases currently under investigation.
He explained that the NDLEA, through its Drug Demand Reduction and Drug Supply Control Units, has intensified efforts to curb the spread of illicit drugs and ensure offenders are brought to justice.
Dawa also called on parents and guardians to closely monitor their children, while urging hotel owners and managers to remain vigilant and prevent their facilities from being used for drug-related activities.
He further advocated the introduction of drug integrity tests in schools and within the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme as part of measures to discourage drug abuse among young people.
In a related development, Dr Wokoma received the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), CC Inyang Umoh, during a courtesy visit, and urged residents to abide by road safety laws and drive in consideration of other road users.
In his remarks, the FRSC boss expressed appreciation to Governor Fubara for the continuous support to the Corps.
Muslims in Rivers State have commended Governor Siminialayi Fubara for his dedication and commitment to the development of the state.
They also lauded the governor for promoting peaceful co-existence among various religious groups in the state.
Vice President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs ,Alhaji Nasil Awhelegbe Uhor, gave the commendation last Friday during the Eid-el Fitri prayer to mark the end of Ramadan fasting period, at the Port Harcourt Central Mosque, Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after the prayer, Alhaji Uhor said Governor Fubara has shown exemplary leadership in the affairs of the state.
Uhor who is the leader of the South South Muslim Ummah of Nigeria, called on Muslims to remain committed to the ideal of peace and fear of the Almighty Allah.
According to the Rivers State Islamic leader, the message is for Muslims to imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink into their lives and shape their ways of doing things.
He urged Muslims to imbibe the culture of love and respect for one another.
“My message is that all Muslims should imbibe and allow the lessons of Ramadan to sink with them,” he advised.
Uhor stressed the need for Muslims and all Nigerians to remain patriotic, while avoiding all forms of anti-social behaviours.
He also called on the political leaders to put the country first, stressing that there is no need for Nigerians to continue to wallow in abject poverty when the country is so rich with natural resources.
Also speaking, the Chief Imam of Rivers State, Alhaji Ibrahim S Yalo, urged Muslims to fear God, and speak the truth always.
According to him, time has come for Nigerians to cultivate the habit of peaceful coexistence, speak the truth and be each others keeper.
“Nigerians own a duty to ensure peace, live together in fear of God and speak the truth always,” he said.
By: John Bibor