[CLSTR]
< Back to situation

[REVISION HISTORY]

Nigeria-wide security raids and arrests

Updated 1 time since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-07-31 22:35 UTC → 2026-08-04 09:37 UTC · added removed

The anti‑crime, anti‑terror and anti‑cult drive that began in June 2024 continued to expand kept expanding through 2025‑2026. In May 2026, army units raided suspected terrorist logistics sites in the following years. After the joint Kwara‑Oyo operation Sokoto, criminal hideouts in July 2024, police partnerships with the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms Edo and Light Weapons helped destroy thousands of illegal firearms. In July 2026, the Osogbo police command cult‑linked premises in Osun State arrested Delta, arresting 24 people and seizing pistols, machetes, a man locally fabricated pistol and hard‑drugs. A June 5 NSCDC operation in Badagry rescued 24 victims from an illegal detention camp and detained four foreign suspects linked to a National Union of Road Transport Workers faction after he opened fire on members of the Anti‑Robbery cross‑border kidnapping and Violent Crime Response Unit, injuring several officers. extortion. The same operation army’s 14 Brigade arrested three arms dealers in Abia on 7 June, while police sweeps in Kano and Yobe on 8 June netted 345 suspects and about 270 weapons. On 10 June police seized a motorcycle thief Beretta pistols, axes and two alleged political thugs. Meanwhile, charms in Ondo State, an intelligence‑led raid intercepted three members of an interstate armed‑robbery syndicate traveling Osun and detained 225 suspects in Katsina for kidnapping, banditry and arms trafficking, rescuing 17 kidnapping victims. Joint DSS‑army raids in Enugu on 11 June uncovered a Mercedes‑Benz SUV; officers recovered rocket launcher, multiple RPGs and up to eleven AK‑47s from an AK‑47 rifle, Eastern Security Network cache. Subsequent operations in Enugu, Oyo and Borno on 12 June recovered further AK‑47s, a Beretta pistol, ammunition, general‑purpose machine gun and killed an axe ISWAP leader. June 13 saw NDLEA arrest a cocaine‑smuggling businessman and DSS intercept an iron cutter, arms courier carrying AK‑47s and the suspects confessed to a series of attacks in RPG tubes. Throughout June, Kwara and Ondo police arrested cult members and Lagos. Also in July 2026, paraded dozens of suspects, while wildlife‑crime and smuggled oil seizures highlighted broader enforcement. In late June, Akwa Ibom State and Nasarawa police announced the arrest of four suspects connected to two separate seized a toy AK‑47 and live ammunition; Akwa Ibom also investigated lynching incidents cases. July brought arrests of cult‑linked kidnappers in Nsit Ibom Imo and Mbak 4 communities. Confessions led investigators to shallow graves where the victims’ bodies were recovered. Further details released Kwara, an army crackdown on 20 July confirmed that the suspects—identified as Otobong Nelson, Utibe Clement, David Okon, Joseph Gibson, Essien Solomon an illegal arms network involving NSCDC and Imoh Asuquo—guided police to the graves of Nsikak Joshua correctional officers, and Emmanuel Effiong, both killed killings of suspected kidnappers in mob assaults. On 31 July 2026, Kwara State police reported a broader crackdown, detaining 22 individuals Ondo. Police‑DSS collaboration was formalised in July, and on 20 July Osun and Ondo units detained a series of operations. Six suspects were linked to the kidnapping NURTW gunman and murder of cattle owner Sulaiman Rilwan, whose body was recovered from an abandoned well after a confession. interstate robbery gang.

Versions

  1. 2026-08-04 09:37 UTC Nigeria-wide security raids and arrests
  2. 2026-07-31 22:35 UTC Nigeria-wide security raids and arrests

Only revisions since CLSTR began indexing content versions appear here. Select a version to see what changed compared to the one before it.