{"id":26007,"date":"2025-11-18T10:38:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T09:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/?p=26007"},"modified":"2025-11-18T10:38:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T09:38:44","slug":"contrary-to-sahara-reporters-publication-customs-operatives-encounter-with-bandits-dates-back-to-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/contrary-to-sahara-reporters-publication-customs-operatives-encounter-with-bandits-dates-back-to-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Contrary to Sahara Reporters publication, Customs operatives’ encounter with bandits dates back to 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Claim: A recent publication<\/a> by Sahara Reporters claimed that Nigerian Customs officials offered bags of rice to bandits in Katsina to guarantee the safety of operations.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Text<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The recent news revealing<\/a> the death of two community leaders in Katsina State added to public conversations on Nigeria\u2019s unhinged insurgency. The attack, which occurred at Doguwa Dorawa and Layin Yannehu communities, followed a peace accord between the community and bandits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barely hours later, Sahara Reporters published<\/a> 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report (archived<\/a>), headlined \u201cNigerian Customs officials offer bandits seized rice to escape recent attack in Katsina,\u201d revealed that the coordinator went to the bandits’ hideout in Dutsin Ma, Katsina State, to appease them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 17 hours, the post had gained over 4,200 reactions, 1,100 comments, and 957 reshares on Facebook<\/a> alone. In the comment section, DUBAWA observed that Facebook users expressed distrust of the Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One such user, Nimic Mile, said, \u201cEven the bandits are surprised seeing this allegation. [Let\u2019s] hear the bandits\u2019 side of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Akra Mkpoikanke described the transaction as trade by barter, while Ayo Obalisa sarcastically said the bandits are nice. \u201cThey only asked for seven bags of rice out of over 30 bags. Kudos to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implication of the claim on the Customs\u2019 reputation, and its outlook amidst the country\u2019s recent security dilemma, prompted DUBAWA to fact-check the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verification <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using keyword search, DUBAWA discovered that the information had first gone viral in 2021. Sahara Reporters published the report<\/a> on March 10, 2021, with the headline, \u201cHow Nigeria Customs Service bribed bandits with bags of rice seized from smugglers in Katsina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report was also published on Channels TV,<\/a> TVC<\/a>, and other channels. DUBAWA found the quote used in the latest Sahara Reporters\u2019 publication between 3 minutes 10 seconds and 3 minutes 50 seconds in the Channels TV video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> signed by Abdullahi Maiwada, the NCS\u2019s national public relations officer, on Dec. 24, 2024, the dissolution was implemented after due consultation with the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially called \u2018Exercise Swift Response,\u2019 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/a> in Kebbi State. Further findings revealed that he had been reassigned to coordinate the Operations Whirlwind<\/a> as an Assistant Comptroller General.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since Mohammed\u2019s era at the Northwest axis, no credible media organisation has reported any recent update about his current position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s coordinator as of February 2024, before its dissolution on December 24, 2024. Therefore, the claim is misleading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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\u2019s 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 \u201cNigerian Customs officials offer bandits seized rice to escape recent attack in Katsina,\u201d 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, \u201cEven the bandits are surprised seeing this allegation. [Let\u2019s] hear the bandits\u2019 side of the story.\u201d Akra Mkpoikanke described the transaction as trade by barter, while Ayo Obalisa sarcastically said the bandits are nice. \u201cThey only asked for seven bags of rice out of over 30 bags. Kudos to them,\u201d he said. The implication of the claim on the Customs\u2019 reputation, and its outlook amidst the country\u2019s 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, \u201cHow Nigeria Customs Service bribed bandits with bags of rice seized from smugglers in Katsina.\u201d The report was also published on Channels TV, TVC, and other channels. DUBAWA found the quote used in the latest Sahara Reporters\u2019 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\u2019s 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 \u2018Exercise Swift Response,\u2019 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\u2019s 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\u2019s coordinator as of February 2024, before its dissolution on December 24, 2024. Therefore, the claim is misleading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"hannibal_claim_source":"","hannibal_source_label":"","hannibal_card_color":"blue","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[1571,120,437,3812,3815],"tags":[],"verdict":[],"ppma_author":[3263],"class_list":["post-26007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fact-check","category-economy","category-facebook-checks","category-headline","category-homepage"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8R6dE-6Lt","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":3263,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"phillip-anjorin","display_name":"Phillip Anjorin","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/98daaf5d9d7a2c5cd4ce1c417532d1cfa2ca293247710cf46a925146cc2e90e1?s=96&r=g","author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-60.png?fit=300%2C168&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26009,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26007\/revisions\/26009"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26007"},{"taxonomy":"verdict","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/verdict?post=26007"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dubawa.org\/dir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=26007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}