BORDER BLITZ: Police Smash Human Traffickers, Seize Guns, Drugs, Stolen Cars in Nationwide Clampdown

The Nigeria Police Force has scored a major breakthrough in its war against transnational crime, intercepting human traffickers, smashing smuggling rings, and recovering firearms, narcotics, stolen vehicles, and looted items in a sweeping border clampdown across the country.

Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed this in a statement on Friday, detailing how coordinated operations spanning Ogun, Sokoto, Katsina, Oyo, Adamawa, and other border corridors dealt heavy blows to syndicates exploiting Nigeria’s porous borders.

At Imeko, Ogun State, operatives recovered a pump-action rifle with ten live cartridges and 20 wraps of cannabis abandoned by fleeing traffickers. In Sokoto State, the long arm of the law caught up with a 48-year-old trafficker and his accomplice at Illela as they attempted to smuggle a 25-year-old victim into Niger Republic.

The crackdown also thwarted an international human trafficking route. In Bachaka, police intercepted four suspects—including two women—who were en route to Libya and Italy through Niger without valid documents. The victims, officials said, were rescued and placed under protective custody.

Vehicle smuggling and cross-border theft were also disrupted. At Jibia, Katsina State, a blue Toyota Corolla suspected to have been stolen in Niger Republic was recovered. In Daura, another suspect was arrested while driving a Toyota Carina crammed with cartons of illicit drugs. In Oyo State, a smuggled Nissan Micra from Benin Republic was impounded. Still in Daura, operatives nabbed a suspect with 26 stolen Android phones hidden as he tried to sneak into Niger.

In Adamawa State, police brought down a notorious cross-border burglar operating in Mubi, linked to serial motorcycle thefts and shop break-ins that had been fueling crime across the North-East region.

“These coordinated operations attest to the unflinching devotion of the Nigeria Police Force to safeguarding national security, protecting the economy, and ensuring the safety of Nigerians across all border corridors,” Hundeyin said.

The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the operatives and vowed to intensify border patrols, declaring that the Force would not relent until human traffickers, drug cartels, arms runners, and smugglers are permanently dismantled.