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Mali’s Defence Minister, Sadio Camara, has been k!lled following a wave of coordinated att@cks targeting military installations across the country.

Camara reportedly died from injuries sustained during an att@ck on his residence in Kati, a key military garrison town located about 15 kilometres from Bamako.

The assault, which occurred barely 24 hours before his death, involved a suicide car bomb and formed part of a broader offensive across the country.

The att@cks were reportedly carried out by fighters linked to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group, alongside Tuareg rebels from the Liberation Front of Azawad.

According to Al Jazeera, the attackers were able to breach Kati, considered one of the most secure military locations in Mali.

Camara, a key figure in Mali’s military leadership, rose to prominence after playing a central role in the coups of 2020 and 2021 that brought the current junta to power.

Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque described his death as significant.

“He was one of the most influential figures within the ruling military leadership… His death is a major blow to the country’s armed forces,” he said.

The coordinated offensive extended beyond Kati, with gunmen attacking several locations including Bamako, Gao, Kidal and Sevare.

“As we speak, people in the garrison town of Kidal can still hear heavy gunfire and loud explosions,” Haque said, adding that the operation remained ongoing more than 24 hours after it began.

The attacks have intensified pressure on Mali’s interim leadership, with analysts suggesting that security forces were overwhelmed by the scale and coordination of the violence.

However, Interim President, Assimi Goita, was reportedly moved to safety and remains in control of the military.

International bodies, including the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and the United States Bureau of African Affairs, have condemned the attacks and called for urgent measures to restore stability.

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A 31-year-old man, Chukwuemeka Destiny, has been arrested by the Delta State Police Command for allegedly masterminding a plan to kidnap the same aunt who raised and cared for him from childhood.

The shocking case was made public during the parade of suspects on Saturday, April 25, where the police described the incident as another painful example of betrayal against people who extend kindness and support to family members.

Speaking during the briefing, Delta State Police spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, revealed that the woman had taken Destiny into her home when he was just five years old and raised him for about ten years, supporting his upbringing and education.

According to Edafe, instead of gratitude, the suspect allegedly returned years later with a sinister plan to arrange her abduction for financial gain.

Police disclosed that Destiny allegedly contacted some men he believed were kidnappers and made payments to facilitate the abduction.

He reportedly paid an initial deposit of N200,000 and later made a second payment of N700,000 to push the plan forward.

However, the plot failed after the individuals he approached turned out not to be kidnappers.

Instead of carrying out the crime, they reportedly turned him in by using him as bait, luring him into a trap before handing him over to the police.

“Unknown to him that the people he contacted were not kidnappers. They rather used him as bait, got him and handed him over to the police thereby saving the life of his auntie,” Edafe added.

During interrogation, the suspect reportedly confessed to the crime and admitted responsibility for his actions.

“Sincerely speaking to you, I am guilty of what really happened. I don’t know what came over me. I can’t tell. It’s the devil’s work,” he said.

The victim, who identified Destiny as the son of her elder sister, expressed deep shock and emotional pain over the betrayal.

She said she was devastated upon learning that someone she had helped raise and treated like her own child could allegedly plan such an act against her.

“I was shocked. Crying,” she said while struggling to hold back tears.

Despite their family relationship, she insisted that the law should take its full course and asked authorities not to show him any special treatment.

The suspect is currently being held by the Raiders Squad of the Delta State Police Command as investigations continue.

The incident has triggered widespread reactions, with many Nigerians expressing disbelief and anger over what they describe as a disturbing level of betrayal within families and society.

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. Captagon ‘ll never find foothold in Nigeria, Marwa assures as operatives destroy 20,000kg skunk in Cross River forest; recover 1.1million pills of opioids in Edo; 394 IED materials in Niger state

Barely five years after the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) recorded the first seizure of the deadly terror drug, Captagon, in Africa at the Apapa seaport in Lagos, operatives of the Agency have again intercepted a consignment of the amphetamine substance in Kwara state.

Captagon, a tiny, highly addictive pill, widely available across the Middle East, produces a euphoric intensity in users, allowing them to stay awake for days, making them fearless, and predisposes them to reckless action that puts the lives of people around them in jeopardy.

Its production and sale are controlled by militias and large criminal groups linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) as a means of generating funds for weapons and combatants, and for use as a stimulant to keep them fighting.
The latest seizure of captagon, which street value costs as much as $25 a pill, was made on Tuesday 21st April 2026 when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Bode Saadu road, Kwara state intercepted a trailer conveying passengers. A search conducted on one of the passengers, 33-year-old Nasiru Mu’azu led to the recovery of 10 packs of captagon consisting of 10,000 pills and nine packets of Tapentadol 250mg.

In another interdiction operation at the Bode Saadu patrol point, NDLEA officers on Friday 24th April intercepted a trailer marked RMY-70XA. A search of the truck led to the recovery of 155,900 capsules of tramadol; 6,000 ampuoles of tramadol injection; 3,000 tablets of Co- Codamol and 9,000 tablets of Bromazepam, concealed in a false compartment constructed under the trailer. A 24-year-old suspect Aminu Isah has been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo state on Tuesday 21st April intercepted a commercial bus with registration number MNA 963 ZY, at Akinyele along Ibadan/Oyo expressway, while en route Sokoto. A 33-year-old passenger Eze Prince Emeka was brought down from the vehicle and taken for body scan, which result confirmed ingestion of illicit drug.

The suspect who claims to be a businessman in Sokoto was subsequently placed under close excretion observation during which he excreted a total of forty-five (45) pellets of cocaine with a total weight of 1.043 kilograms in three excretions. The decision to travel by road to Sokoto with the illicit drug in his stomach was to evade detection by NDLEA at the airport while further investigation reveals that upon arrival in Sokoto, the suspect was to excrete the pellets, rest for a few days, and subsequently re-ingest the substances to continue the journey through the trans-Saharan routes, with Algeria as a transit point and possible final destination in Europe.

In Edo state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Benin/Lagos expressway on Saturday 25th April intercepted a truck marked NLC 146 FC conveying 1, 196,000 pills of pharmaceutical opioids, among others. Two suspects: Osagie Igbinibo, 43, and Omijie Malik, 44, were apprehended in connection with the seizure of the consignments heading to Onitsha, Anambra state.

While a suspect Rasheed Ibuowo, 40, was arrested at Mile 2 expressway in Lagos on Saturday 25th April conveying 810 kilograms of Arizona, a strain of cannabis, another suspect Muktar Bello, 35, was nabbed by NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 22nd April at Misau road, Azare/Katagun LGA, Bauchi state with 288 blocks of skunk weighing 154.5kg.
In Ekiti state, a total of 466.8 kilograms of skunk were recovered from the house of a suspect Layit John Matthew, 56, at Ilaro street, Isinbode-Ekiti, from where he planned to transport them to Yola, Adamawa state while 20,000 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance were destroyed on eight hectares of farmland in Uyanga community, Akamkpa LGA, Cross River state on Saturday 25th April when NDLEA officers supported by soldiers raided the community and recovered 170kg of processed cannabis.

Three Hundred and Ninety-Four (394) pieces of IED components were seized from a suspect Mohammed Aliyu, 26, by NDLEA operatives on patrol along Kontagora/Zuru road, Niger state on Wednesday 22nd April. He was conveying the IED materials in a red Toyota car with registration number KNT 617 AE to Shadadi, Mariga LGA. The suspect and exhibit are to be transferred to the relevant security Agency for further investigation.

With the same zeal, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture for students and staff of Mallam Salisu Islamic School, Paiko, Niger state; Madarasatul Abdulrahman Bin Auf Litahafizul Quran, Durusul Islamiyah Badawa, Nasarawa LGA, Kano; Sani Zango Daura Model Primary School, Zango, Katsina; and members of community development associations, Badagry LGA Lagos while the Zonal Commander, Zone 4 Command of NDLEA, ACGN Bridget Viashiama led other senior officers of the Zone on a WADA advocacy visit to Nasarawa state governor, Engr. Abdullahi Sule, among others.

While commending the officers and men of Kwara, Oyo, Edo, Cross River, Bauchi, Ekiti, Niger and Lagos Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) noted their drug supply reduction efforts balanced with WADA sensitization activities while he charged them and their compatriots across the country to maintain the current tempo.

He commended the tactical precision of NDLEA operatives following the interception of 10,000 pills of Captagon in Kwara State, noting that the bust is a major blow to drug syndicates attempting to revive a pipeline that has been largely dormant since the landmark seizure at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos five years ago.

Marwa described the seizure as a wake-up call, noting that Captagon, a potent amphetamine often linked to insurgent groups for its ability to inhibit fear and fatigue, remains a target for traffickers looking to fuel insecurity.

“We are not just seizing pills; we are disrupting the fuel that powers violence in our communities. Our operatives remain on high alert across all frontiers to ensure this illicit trade finds no foothold”, he stated.