Two Nigerian nationals who allegedly broke out of prison in Nepal during recent anti-government demonstrations have been captured by India’s paramilitary force, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
According to a Monday report by the Press Trust of India, the duo was apprehended on Saturday in Jainagar, Bihar State, as they attempted to cross the border back into Nepal.
The Nigerians were reported to be among dozens of detainees—both locals and foreigners—who escaped correctional facilities in Nepal amid violent protests that shook the Himalayan country in recent weeks.
Quoting a security source, the news agency said: “These individuals were intercepted at the border in the past three to four days after escaping from different jails during the massive anti-government demonstrations in Nepal.”
The SSB disclosed that more than 79 fugitives, including foreign nationals, have so far been arrested in various Indian states adjoining Nepal.
Authorities explained that the large-scale manhunt became necessary because the 1,751-kilometre-long India-Nepal border, spread across 20 districts in five states, is largely open and without fencing.
The arrest of the Nigerians has once again spotlighted the recurring involvement of some Nigerian nationals in cross-border crimes across Asia, a trend that has increasingly worried law enforcement agencies.
Earlier reports had it that police in Kozhikode City, India, arrested eight Nigerians accused of drug trafficking.
The Hindu newspaper noted that the suspects allegedly held “key roles” in a wider drug cartel said to operate across multiple Indian states.
In collaboration with a state-level task force, the Kozhikode police also discovered a synthetic drug laboratory in Gurugram, Haryana, with assistance from police units in Delhi and Haryana.
