Crime
“Spike in IPOB Attacks in Enugu Shows Mbah Isn’t Ready for Leadership”, CSO Declares
The current spike in attacks by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Enugu since the state governor, Peter Mbah, announced an end to the Sit-at-home order in the state three weeks ago has been attributed to the lack of preparedness for leadership by the new helmsman.
According to a civil society organisation based in Enugu, the Oriental Lawyers for Justice (OLJ), the worsened security problem has seen at least eight kidnappings in the capital in the last two weeks plus the attack on the New Haven station of the Pinnacle Oil and Gas Company owned by the governor in the early hours of Wednesday last week “show that, contrary to the assertions of those who packaged him for the recent election which he nevertheless lost, Mbah is just another politician and wheeler-dealer rather than a clear-headed leader with a focus on how to get our dear state cracking in the right direction”.
Commercial drivers protested in their hundreds on Tuesday (yesterday) against the new spate of kidnappings on the Enugu–Nsukka Road, as three kidnaps were recorded on Thursday, last week, alone.
If he had prepared himself for high office, the OLJ said in a statement signed by JohnBosco Aninwede, its president, and Mrs Ifeoma Ejike, the secretary, he would have learned from the experience of Governor Chukwuma Soludo of neighbouring Anambra State who in his inaugural speech in March, 2022, announced a war against so-called freedom fighters in the bush, only to face an unprecedented rise in attacks by IPOB members throughout the state, especially in his Isuofia hometown and Aguata Local Government Area whose headquarters was bombed.
“There is no doubt that IPOB has been responsible for the attack on Mbah’s private petroleum firm, as the perpetrators came in a large number of tricycles and armed with rifles, charms, and the notorious red headband worn by the Eastern Security Network (ESN), IPOB’s military wing”, declared the OLJ.
“And everyone knows that Pinnacle is targeted because of Mbah’s moves against IPOB”.
The nongovernmental organisation said that Simeon Ekpa, a top IPOB leader based in Finland, has openly mocked Mbah for lack of legitimately because he didn’t win the Enugu governorship election.
The lawyers argued that no serious leader would announce the cancellation of the stay-at-home order which is enforced with savagery throughout the Southeast every Monday without providing enough security forces on the ground and without constituting his cabinet because tackling profound insecurity is not a one-man show.
“By the time he announced an end to the order by the nonstate actors, the new governor had appointed only the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Chidiebere Onyia, and no other person into his administration”, noted the Oriental Lawyers for Justice.
“It was after he had begun to implement the order which failed spectacularly on the first Monday that it occurred to him to consult stakeholders in the state like traders, transporters, religious leaders, traditional rulers, students, town union officers, and the rest to brief them on his plans”.
They added that Mbah was marketed beyond his knowledge and skills by his handlers who “tried to mesmerise our people with his personal wealth and his manifesto promise to increase Enugu’s economy from $4bn to $30bn within four years, even though he has never supplied information on how he plans to achieve this feat”.
The lawyers observed that though they are against IPOB for its streak of violence and such illegal acts as the curfew it imposes on the Southeast weekly, “Mbah has gone about cutting down the secessionist group to size the wrong way because of his poor poor skills as a public leader.
“If he had genuinely won the March 18 gubernatorial election, he would have acted more rationally, and not in this knee-jerk manner meant to get accepted by the Enugu people who rejected him and his Peoples Democratic Party resoundingly in the 2023 general elections.”
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.
The Nigeria Police Force has recorded a significant breakthrough in its fight against transnational organized crime with the arrest of two internationally wanted fugitives: Felix Omoregie alias “Eghosa Johnson Omoregie,” a suspected ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities, and Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje, a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang
In a statement dated May 7, 2025, with the reference number Ref No. CZ.5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.6/433, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, Force PRO, Force HQ Abuja, said: “Felix Omoregie, the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation, had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice issued on 19th December 2023, and was arrested in Benin City, Edo State, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by Police operatives.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin City.
Omoregie is accused of trafficking young Nigerian women, including minors, to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging between €20,000 and €50,000 used to manipulate and control them.
His criminal network involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remitted proceeds to him.
Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organization leadership, Omoregie 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.
In a separate operation, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, apprehended 37-year-old Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.
Ezeje is wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of serious crimes, including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organized criminal activities.
Intelligence gathered reveals that Ezeje continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.
He has been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall, a targeted hit on Al Ansari Exchange in Jumeirah, and another heist at a Bureau de Change in Jebel Ali Village.
The arrest was 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.
The arraignment of Okwudili Ezeje is expected to take place shortly.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.
The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to enhancing its global policing partnerships and ensuring that fugitives find no safe haven within our borders.
These arrests serve as a clear message that criminal elements, no matter how far they run or how long they hide, will be brought to justice.
The Force calls on citizens to remain vigilant and cooperative in the fight against organized crime, both at home and abroad.”
…..Reiterates Commitment towards International Partnership
The Nigeria Police Force has recorded a significant breakthrough in its fight against transnational organized crime with the arrest of two internationally wanted fugitives:
Felix Omoregie alias “Eghosa Johnson Omoregie,” a suspected ringleader of a human trafficking syndicate wanted by Belgian authorities, and Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje, a key member of a Dubai-based armed robbery gang.
Felix Omoregie, the alleged mastermind of a large-scale human trafficking operation, had been declared wanted by the Belgian authorities through an INTERPOL Red Notice issued on 19th December 2023, and was arrested in Benin City, Edo State, following diligent intelligence and enforcement efforts by Police operatives.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at the Federal High Court in Benin City. Omoregie is accused of trafficking young Nigerian women—including minors—to Italy and subsequently dispersing them across Europe for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
Victims were subjected to voodoo-based oaths and psychological coercion, with fabricated debts ranging between €20,000 and €50,000 used to manipulate and control them.
His criminal network involved handlers in Brussels and France who managed the victims’ activities and remitted proceeds to him.
Following a conviction in absentia in Belgium in 2021 for multiple counts of aggravated human trafficking and criminal organization leadership, Omoregie 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.
In a separate operation, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), Abuja, apprehended 37-year-old Okwudili Sabastine Ezeje at a hideout in Nsukka, Enugu State.
Ezeje is wanted by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of serious crimes including armed robbery, cultism, drug trafficking, and other organized criminal activities.
Intelligence gathered reveals that Ezeje continued to coordinate criminal operations remotely from Nigeria.
He has been directly linked to several high-profile robberies in Dubai and Sharjah, including an armed robbery at a grocery store in Dubai Mall, a targeted hit on Al Ansari Exchange in Jumeirah, and another heist at a Bureau de Change in Jebel Ali Village.
The arrest was 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.
The arraignment of Okwudili Ezeje is expected to take place shortly.
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun, Ph.D., NPM., commends all operatives involved in these high-profile arrests for their professionalism, diligence, and dedication to upholding Nigeria’s international law enforcement obligations.
The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to enhancing its global policing partnerships and ensuring that fugitives find no safe haven within our borders.
These arrests serve as a clear message that criminal elements, no matter how far they run or how long they hide, will be brought to justice.
The Force calls on citizens to remain vigilant and cooperative in the fight against organized crime, both at home and abroad.
Government’s second witness in the ongoing trial of Biafra nation agitator, Nnamdi Kanu says the secessionist leader is the founder of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and operator of Radio Biafra.
At the resumed hearing on the matter, the second prosecution witness, identified as BBB, testified that he was assigned by the then Attorney General of the Federation to investigate Kanu.
But attempts by the prosecution to tender a letter authorising the investigation was objected by Agabi on grounds that the document was not front loaded.
This prompted the prosecution’s withdrawal of the document, a request granted by the court.
The court, therefore, ordered that all materials intended for the trial must be served in advance and listed properly, stressing that no document would be admitted unless previously disclosed to the defence.
In another aspect, the presiding judge, James Omotosho, has instructed that only 16 out of the 26 listed would be recognised in court.
This followed a bit of confusion about legal representation, where a certain Charles Ude claimed to be a member of Nnamdi Kanu’s legal team.
But lead defence counsel, Kanu Agabi, SAN, disassociated the team from Ude’s claim, with Kanu affirming that Agabi remains his official legal representative.
Similarly, the court has barred a relative of the defendant, Favour Kano, from attending three successive proceedings of the court, after she admitted doing a live stream while the judge was seated.
Justice Omotosho revealed she had also posted the content online. The matter was subsequently adjourned to May 7 for the continuation of the examination-in-chief of the second prosecution witness.
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