Crime & Court
Apapa traffic : Truck drivers recount ordeals in the hands of robbers
As the chaotic traffic continues to linger along the port access roads, truck drivers have decried the constant attacks on them and the vandalisation of their vehicles and goods by hoodlums.
Speaking with Vanguard Maritime Report, some of the truck drivers said hardly can one find a truck driver that had not experienced an attack on the highway both during the day and at night, as these hoodlums threaten them daily with guns, weapons and other ammunition. The drivers said the hoodlums do away with every valuable thing they have and at times they also loot the containers and carry the goods. A choked-up section of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, taken over by trucks.
One of the truck drivers who spoke with Vanguard Maritime Report on the issue, Adekanmi Oyeshina, said, “I have been attacked several times; I was even attacked three days ago on this same spot.
“The container was empty then so they took my phones and money. During attack, the robbers do pack goods in the container as well especially when we are travelling to places like Kano. “At least I have up to four or five friends who got robbed of goods in their containers and when the armed robbers loot the containers, they found out that it was filled with clothes.” He also said that they do not usually see whatever is loaded in the container until they get to their destination and it is offloaded in their presence. Similarly, Adebayo Olufemi who revealed he just got licensed as truck driver, gave an experience of his colleague.
“I have never been attacked before but according to what I have heard, attacks usually occur whenever we travel via wharf road to Apapa whether the driver is sleeping or not, in the day and night; the robbers are always attacking truck drivers there. “They will remove the tyres of the truck take their phones and money even from Ojota to Apapa that is where we have the worst attacks. We do not see whatever we carry unless we get to our destination and the container is offloaded in our presence, that is when we see what we have been carrying. “Even the Customs do not check the goods if our particulars are intact.
If our particulars are not intact we would not be allowed to move out of Apapa. Even if the driver manages to leave Apapa, he will still encounter some Custom officers before he gets to his destination. We usually load at wharf, second gate, terminal and others,” he said. In the same vein, Ogundare Richard revealed he had also been attacked.
He noted that the armed robbers do threaten them with sharp items or weapons and would order them to surrender their belongings or else they will use their weapons on them. Similarly, a truck driver who simple identified himself as Jacob, said that they have been victims of several attacks on the containers. He stated: “I was attacked one night here at Alakija and I did not even know when it happened until I got to the place where I was to offload the goods and found out that the container key has being cut off with a cutter and several cartoons of powdered milk was carted away.
“I was arrested and put in jail for about three weeks to one month until investigations were made and it was discovered that I was robbed before they released me. “Am not the only person that have been attacked. Several people have also been attacked on this road.” Also another truck driver, Musa said “I was attacked and they took everything I had with me, they took my money, my wristwatch, my chains, even my clothes and two of my extra tyres, they left me with nothing because that very day my container was empty, so they took away all my personal belongings.”
The Ogun State Magistrate’s Court sitting in Sagamu has adjourned the trial of the driver involved in the road crash that affected former heavyweight boxing champion, Anthony Joshua, to June 2, 2026.
The court, presided over by Magistrate Olufunilayo Somefun, fixed the new date to allow the prosecution to file fresh charges in the case.
The defendant, Adeniyi Mobolaji, is facing a four-count charge bordering on dangerous and negligent driving resulting in death.
It was gathered that the matter had been adjourned about four times to enable the prosecuting counsel, G. O. Ogunyomi, amend the charges before the court.
Mobolaji was accused of reckless and negligent driving, contrary to Section 6(1) of the relevant law, as well as driving without due care and attention, causing bodily harm, and damage to property under Section 7(1).
He was also alleged to have driven without a valid national driver’s licence, contrary to Section 10(1) of the Federal Highway Act.
Ruling on the prosecution’s application for adjournment, the magistrate granted the request and fixed June 2 for proper hearing. The defence counsel did not oppose the application.
Speaking after the proceedings, counsel to the defendant, Abiodun Olalekan, said the adjournment was necessary to ensure justice for all parties involved.
The 46-year-old defendant was involved in the fatal crash that claimed the lives of Joshua’s personal trainer, Latif Ayodele, and strength and conditioning coach, Sina Ghami, along the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway on December 29, 2025.
The Lexus SUV conveying the boxer collided with a stationary truck, leaving Joshua and the driver with minor injuries.
Joshua was later discharged from the hospital after being certified clinically stable.
The deaths of Ayodele and Ghami drew widespread reactions within the international boxing community, where both men were regarded as key figures in Joshua’s camp.
Their remains were subsequently repatriated to the United Kingdom, where a funeral prayer was held on January 4, 2026, at the London Central Mosque.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 58-year-old alleged drug lord, Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, who had reportedly been on the agency’s wanted list and that of British authorities for over 15 years.
Ilomuanya was apprehended in Lagos on Monday, February 23, 2026, following what the agency described as a high-level, coordinated operation by officers of its Special Operations Unit.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi said the suspect’s arrest ended a prolonged manhunt linked to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities across Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
According to the statement, Ilomuanya was first arrested in February 2003 in the United Kingdom and convicted for drug trafficking.
He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment but was released after serving two years following a successful appeal.
Babafemi added that the suspect was again arrested in the UK in July 2011 over drug-related offences.
He said, “He was granted administrative bail but jumped jurisdiction and fled to Nigeria.
“Typical of a recidivist, Ilomuanya was in November 2018 arrested in Nigeria by NDLEA operatives following the discovery of two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in his Obinugwu, Orlu Local Government Area country home in Imo State and at his No. 3 Barrister Declan Uzoma Close, Lagos residence where officers recovered 77.960 kilograms of methamphetamine and extensive production equipment.
“He was subsequently charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos, after which he jumped court bail and has been on the run since then.”
Reacting to the development, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the arrest as a major breakthrough in the agency’s ongoing war against drug trafficking networks.
Marwa said the operation demonstrated the agency’s resolve to track down criminal elements regardless of how long they evade the law.
He said, “This arrest serves as a stern warning to those who think they can hide behind borders to escape justice.
“Whether you jump bail in London or set up clandestine labs in your village, the long arm of the NDLEA will eventually catch up with those who choose to undermine the health, security, and future of our nation.
“We remain committed to our international collaborations to ensure that Nigeria is not used as a sanctuary for global drug lords.”
Marwa also commended officers of the Special Operations Unit for their professionalism and persistence in tracking down the suspect.
He added that the agency would continue to strengthen intelligence-driven operations and international cooperation to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating within and beyond Nigeria.
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday discharged and acquitted a suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, of a 23-count charge bordering on alleged non-declaration of assets filed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho held that the prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations against the defendants.
Kyari was arraigned alongside his two brothers, who were accused of swearing to false affidavits in an alleged attempt to conceal the origin of certain properties.
However, the court ruled that the anti-drug agency failed to establish that the properties allegedly not declared by Kyari were actually owned by him.
Justice Omotosho explained that ownership of landed property could be established through traditional history, title documents, acts of possession, or possession by connection.
According to the judge, the prosecution did not present any of these forms of evidence to prove that the properties located at Fountain Estate in Karsana, said to belong to Ramatu Kyari, were owned by the suspended police officer.
The court also held that the prosecution failed to produce material evidence linking Kyari to properties located on Linda Choko Road in Asokoro, Abuja, as well as properties in Maiduguri, Borno State.
In his defence, Kyari maintained that the properties in Borno State belonged to his late father, who bequeathed them to him and his siblings.
The judge held that the prosecution failed to prove otherwise.
Justice Omotosho also faulted the prosecution for charging Kyari’s brothers with conspiracy, describing the allegation as unsubstantiated.
He described the NDLEA’s case as weak and lacking credible evidence, adding that the defendant had served the country well and should not be subjected to persecution.
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