The Defence Headquarters (DHQ) says the recent attacks in Oyo state are isolated criminal incidents and do not indicate the presence of an established terrorist network in the region.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Michael Onoja, the DHQ director of defence media operations, said previous military clearance operations in the Old Oyo National Park had significantly weakened criminal groups operating in the area.

The DHQ statement comes days after gunmen attacked Baptist Nursery and Primary School, Yawota; Community Grammar School, Esiele; and LA Primary School in Ogbomoso, all in the Oriire LGA of Oyo state.

Two people were killed during the attacks, while at least 45 schoolchildren, alongside a principal and several teachers, were reportedly abducted. One of the abducted teachers was later killed in captivity.

However, Onoja said intelligence assessments have shown that there is no permanent terrorist base within the forests or hinterlands of the south-west.

“It is pertinent to state that the incident was an isolated criminal act and does not reflect the existence of any entrenched terrorist structure in the region, as the Armed Forces had earlier conducted a comprehensive clearance operation of the Old Oyo National Park, effectively neutralising the operational capacity of criminal elements within that corridor,” the statement reads.

“Current intelligence assessments do not support the conclusion that any structured or permanent terrorist base exists within the forests or hinterlands of the South West region.

“Criminal elements, however audacious their recent activities, do not constitute an established insurgent presence, and the defence headquarters cautions against narratives that may cause unnecessary public panic or embolden adversaries by overstating their capabilities.”

Onoja assured families of the abducted victims that the military remained committed to ensuring their safe and unconditional release.

According to him, troops are currently carrying out search-and-rescue operations across forested areas of the state in collaboration with other security agencies and local vigilante groups.

“The joint effort with all security agencies and local vigilantes will ensure that the forest is thoroughly cleared of criminal elements and that lasting peace is restored to the region,” he said.

“The Armed Forces of Nigeria will not relent until every abducted victim is safely recovered, the criminal networks responsible are dismantled, and normalcy is fully restored across the South West and indeed all of Nigeria.”

The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil complaint seeking to revoke the US citizenship of a Nigerian-born man, Emmanuel Oluwatosin Kazeem, convicted of masterminding a large-scale identity theft and tax fraud scheme that allegedly defrauded US authorities of millions of dollars.

In a statement published on its website on Monday, the department said the complaint was filed before the US District Court in Baltimore, Maryland, accusing Kazeem of unlawfully obtaining American citizenship through fraud and concealment of criminal conduct.

Kazeem was convicted in 2017 on 19 counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and conspiracy to commit fraud, and was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.

His sentence was later commuted in 2024 by former US President Joe Biden after he had spent about six years in prison.

Announcing the action, Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate said the administration would continue targeting individuals who fraudulently obtained US citizenship.

“The Trump Administration will not permit wrongdoers to retain the US citizenship that they were never entitled to in the first place,” Shumate said.

He added, “U.S. Citizenship is a privilege, and we will continue to ask courts to revoke a status that was obtained through fraud and deceit.”

According to the complaint, Kazeem’s fraud activities began before and continued after his naturalisation, which prosecutors argued made him legally ineligible for citizenship.

The department also alleged that Kazeem engaged in a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status before later marrying another woman, an action authorities said further disqualified him from naturalisation.

Court documents showed the investigation started in 2013 after a victim in Medford, Oregon, informed the Internal Revenue Service that fake federal and state tax returns had been filed using her family’s personal identifying information.

Search warrants later executed in Illinois, Maryland, and Georgia reportedly uncovered prepaid debit cards, money orders, electronic devices, and cash tied to fraudulent tax refunds.

According to the Justice Department, the searches helped investigators identify Kazeem “as the leader and mastermind of the scheme.”

Authorities alleged that the syndicate possessed stolen personal identifying information belonging to more than 259,000 victims and that Kazeem purchased over 91,000 identities from a Vietnamese hacker who breached an Oregon company’s private database.

The department said Kazeem and his co-conspirators used the stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns between 2012 and 2015, while also securing thousands of electronic filing PINs to bypass IRS security procedures.

“In total, Kazeem was linked to 10,139 fraudulent federal tax returns attempting to get over 91 million dollars in refunds and successfully received over 11.6 million dollars,” the statement said.

Authorities further alleged that more than 2,000 wire transfers valued at over $2.1m were sent to Nigeria, with over 700 transfers directly linked to Kazeem.

The statement added that Kazeem used proceeds from the scheme to make “a nearly $200,000 down payment on a newly constructed house” and also attempted to fund “a 6 million dollar, 4-star hotel in Lagos, Nigeria.”

The Justice Department said Kazeem transferred ownership interests in some U.S. properties to his sister in Nigeria for $10 shortly before his arrest in 2015.

It added that the case was jointly investigated by agencies including the FBI, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Department of Homeland Security, while the denaturalisation proceedings would now be handled by the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation.

Residents of Oke Egan in the Ilogbo-Eremi area of Badagry, Lagos State, were thrown into shock on Friday after the body of a sexagenarian woman, Victoria Adegoke, was found abandoned in a nearby bush.

It was learnt from community sources on Sunday that the deceased was allegedly found naked and was suspected of having been raped and strangled before her body was dragged into the bush.

One of the photographs obtained by journalists on Sunday showed what appeared to be marks indicating that the victim’s hands had been tied by her assailants.

A community leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the incident, said Adegoke, believed to be in her 60s and a grandmother, was found around 6:10am on Friday.

He told our correspondent that the deceased had attended a programme at The Joy of Christ Ministry, popularly known as Ayo Jesu Church.

According to the source, Adegoke was allegedly ambushed by some hoodlums while returning home in the early hours of the day.

“The deceased is someone I know. Her daughter stays abroad. She went to church last Tuesday and had been there for some time because they were holding a programme that ended four days ago.

“She later stayed with one of her siblings who lives close to the church. It was while she was returning home around six in the morning that she was reportedly attacked.

“The suspects removed her clothes and underwear. They strangled her and also took her phone. Her ATM card and Bible were found at the scene,” the source said.

Another resident who identified himself only as Adeola described the incident as shocking, questioning why an elderly woman would be subjected to such brutality.

“She should be between 65 and 68 years old. Passersby found her body inside the bush and reported the matter at the police post in Ilogbo-Eremi.

“The police are aware of the incident and should be able to track the assailants through the woman’s stolen phone,” the resident said.

A community member, who also requested anonymity for fear of attack, described the area of the incident as notorious for violent crimes.

“The community is along the boundary between Lagos and Ogun states and is known for criminal activities. This is not the first time such a crime has happened here.

In fact, this would be about the fourth such incident reported in the area.

“The place is prone to violence, so people have to be careful. She was a grandmother, not a young woman. She was found naked, and it was when the police arrived that her body was covered. Her pants had been removed, which suggested she was raped,” the source added.

When contacted on Sunday, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Police Command, CSP Abimbola Adebisi, did not respond to calls or a WhatsApp message sent to his line at the time of this report.

This is not the first time a disturbing incident has been reported in Badagry. In November 2025, the corpse of an unidentified man was discovered in front of a filling station in the Seme area of the town.

The discovery was first reported by CityMood Badagry, a local social media news platform.

The deceased was found lying face-up, wearing what appeared to be a white top with black stripes, with parts of his chest and neck visibly exposed.