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Claim: A recent publication by Sahara Reporters claimed that Nigerian Customs officials offered bags of rice to bandits in Katsina to guarantee the safety of operations.
Verdict: MISLEADING. The incident, as confirmed on multiple credible media platforms, happened in 2021 when Aliyu Mohammed was the coordinator. As of 2024, the national coordinator of the Joint Border Patrol Team Sector Four, Northwest, was Comptroller Kola Oladeji, not Aliyu Mohammed.
Full Text
The recent news revealing the death of two community leaders in Katsina State added to public conversations on Nigeria’s unhinged insurgency. The attack, which occurred at Doguwa Dorawa and Layin Yannehu communities, followed a peace accord between the community and bandits.
Barely hours later, Sahara Reporters published a report on Nov. 6, 2025, claiming that the northwest coordinator of the Border Drill Sector Four, Comptroller Aliyu Mohammed, said he gave bandits seven bags of rice to guarantee the safety of Customs Officials’ lives in the state.
The report (archived), headlined “Nigerian Customs officials offer bandits seized rice to escape recent attack in Katsina,” revealed that the coordinator went to the bandits’ hideout in Dutsin Ma, Katsina State, to appease them.
In 17 hours, the post had gained over 4,200 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 957 reshares on Facebook alone. In the comment section, DUBAWA observed that Facebook users expressed distrust of the Commission.
One such user, Nimic Mile, said, “Even the bandits are surprised seeing this allegation. [Let’s] hear the bandits’ side of the story.”
Akra Mkpoikanke described the transaction as trade by barter, while Ayo Obalisa sarcastically said the bandits are nice. “They only asked for seven bags of rice out of over 30 bags. Kudos to them,” he said.
The implication of the claim on the Customs’ reputation, and its outlook amidst the country’s recent security dilemma, prompted DUBAWA to fact-check the report.
Verification
Using keyword search, DUBAWA discovered that the information had first gone viral in 2021. Sahara Reporters published the report on March 10, 2021, with the headline, “How Nigeria Customs Service bribed bandits with bags of rice seized from smugglers in Katsina.”
The report was also published on Channels TV, TVC, and other channels. DUBAWA found the quote used in the latest Sahara Reporters’ publication between 3 minutes 10 seconds and 3 minutes 50 seconds in the Channels TV video.
Meanwhile, further findings revealed that the NCS had dissolved the Joint Border Patrol Team (JBPT). The move was among other acts to strengthen border management with the reinvigoration of its 2025 Enforcement Strategy. In a statement signed by Abdullahi Maiwada, the NCS’s national public relations officer, on Dec. 24, 2024, the dissolution was implemented after due consultation with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Initially called ‘Exercise Swift Response,’ the border drill action was launched on Aug. 20, 2019, coordinated by the ONSA. The coalition comprises officials from the NCS, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), and other security and intelligence agencies.
Before its dissolution, Kola Oladeji coordinated operations at the Northwest Axis. As of Feb. 15, 2024, he led the drill team to impound goods worth more than N42 million in Kebbi State. Further findings revealed that he had been reassigned to coordinate the Operations Whirlwind as an Assistant Comptroller General.
Since Mohammed’s era at the Northwest axis, no credible media organisation has reported any recent update about his current position.
Conclusion
While no credible media platform reported when Aliyu Mohammed left office as the JBPT Northwest coordinator, available evidence indicates that Kola Oladeji was the team’s coordinator as of February 2024, before its dissolution on December 24, 2024. Therefore, the claim is misleading.
