Hundreds of mutilated bodies found in suspected Nigerian organ-harvesting ring

An extensive organ-harvesting ring has been uncovered in Nigeria after weeks of covert surveillance, local officials have said.

In a statement shared on X, the Imo State Police Command said their investigation was launched after reports of a worrying spate of kidnappings near a hotel and mortuary in Ngor Okpala.

According to police, intelligence-led investigations went on to identify a man called High Chief Stanley Oparaugo, also known as "Morocco," as the suspected leader of the criminal network and who is now on the run and wanted, per reports.

Oparaugo is alleged to own Jessy Best Hotel in Ihitte Okwe and the nearby mortuary known as Ugwudi.

Police said victims were said to have been lured into the hotel before being robbed and abducted, with families also forced to pay ransom.

Authorities said some people who paid never saw their loved ones again.

The Command said abducted victims were then taken from the hotel to the mortuary, where they were allegedly killed and their organs harvested for sale.

When officers raided the Jessy Best Hotel, it was abandoned, but at the mortuary they found decomposed and mutilated corpses.

Police spokesperson Henry Okoye said more than 100 bodies had been found.

"A hotel and a private mortuary owned by the suspect, allegedly used by kidnappers and violent criminals, were inspected," he said in a statement.

"At the mortuary, decomposed and mutilated corpses were discovered in unhygienic conditions, raising suspicions of illegal organ-harvesting activities."

He added that the suspect’s residence was also searched and "crucial exhibits" were recovered, with forensic teams documenting evidence for the ongoing investigation.

"Maximum security has been deployed along the Owerri–Aba Expressway. The Command assures travelers during the holidays of its commitment to their safety," he added.

Nigeria has seen a rising amount of crime with kidnappings and abductions.

By Emma Bussey, Fox News

Nigerian troops held in Burkina Faso after ‘unfriendly’ emergency landing

Eleven Nigerian military personnel are being held in Burkina Faso after a Nigerian plane reportedly entered Burkinabé airspace without authorisation on Monday, the latest twist in a region enmeshed in multiple political and security crises.

In a statement on Monday evening, the breakaway Alliance of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a member alongside Mali and Niger, said the C-130 transport aircraft had made an emergency landing in Bobo Dioulasso.

In the statement, Assimi Goita, the Malian junta president and leader of the AES, called the landing an “unfriendly act carried out in defiance of international law”. He directed the authorities in the member countries to act “to neutralise any aircraft that would violate the confederal space” in future.

On Monday, Nigerian authorities said the aircraft had been en route to Portugal for a ferry mission before “a technical concern which necessitated a precautionary landing”.

“[The] crew is safe and have received cordial treatment from the host authorities,” said Ehimen Ejodame, the Nigerian air force spokesperson who signed the statement. “Plans are ongoing to resume the mission as scheduled.”

The incident unfolded less than 24 hours after Nigeria took part in an intervention in Benin, Burkina Faso’s south-eastern neighbour, after a group of soldiers seized control of the national television station in Cotonou and announced the ousting of the president, Patrice Talon.

Authorities in Benin later said they had foiled the coup attempt and restored order, preventing what would have been the eighth successful coup in west Africa in five years.

A statement from the Nigerian government said its airstrikes –targeting a military base in Cotonou where some of the coup planners were reportedly holed up – happened at the behest of Talon and were in compliance with the protocols of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Ivorian aircraft were also seen hovering over Beninese airspace during the crisis, pointing to a coordinated response by countries aligned with the regional bloc.

The states that make up the AES broke away from Ecowas, headquartered in Nigeria, after Ecowas threatened military intervention in Niger in 2023 to reinstate the democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, after he was ousted in a coup. The AES states accuse Ecowas of breaching territorial integrity and being a puppet of the west and have also drawn closer to Russia.

By Eromo Egbejule, The Guardian

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Nigerian authorities freed 100 schoolchildren kidnapped last month in Niger state. The release was confirmed by the Christian Association of Nigeria.

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Nigeria says it deployed jets, troops to Benin to ‘dislodge coup plotters’

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has confirmed deploying fighter jets and ground troops to neighbouring Benin to help foil a coup attempt by a group of Beninese soldiers.

In a statement on Sunday, Tinubu’s office said Nigeria’s military intervened in Benin after President Patrice Talon’s government issued two requests for help, including for “immediate Nigerian air support”.

Tinubu first ordered Nigerian fighter jets to enter Benin and “take over the airspace to help dislodge the coup plotters from the National TV and a military camp where they had regrouped”, the statement said.

Nigeria’s military sent in ground troops later, after Benin’s government asked for their support in “the protection of constitutional institutions and the containment of armed groups”, it said.

Tinubu praised his troops and said they had helped “stabilise a neighbouring country”.

The Nigerian statement came shortly after Talon, the president of Benin, appeared on national television and said his security forces had successfully blocked the attempt to overthrow his government.

Talon promises punishment

Talon said forces loyal to him “stood firm, recaptured our positions, and cleared the last pockets of resistance held by the mutineers”.

“This commitment and mobilisation enabled us to defeat these adventurers and to prevent the worst for our country,” he said. “This treachery will not go unpunished.”

The Benin president added that his thoughts were with the victims of the coup attempt as well as with a number of people who have been held by the fleeing mutineers.

He did not give details.

The unrest was the latest threat to democratic governance in the region, where militaries have in recent years seized power in Benin’s neighbours Niger and Burkina Faso, as well as in Mali, Guinea and, only last month, Guinea-Bissau. But it was an unexpected development in Benin, where the last successful coup took place in 1972.

A government spokesperson, Wilfried Leandre Houngbedji, said that 14 people had been arrested in connection with the coup attempt as of Sunday afternoon, without providing details.

One security source told the AFP news agency that all the detainees were soldiers in active service, except one who was ex-military. It was not clear if Lieutenant Colonel Pascal Tigri, the coup leader, had been apprehended.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Olushegun Adjadi Bakari told the Reuters news agency that the soldiers had only managed to briefly take control of the state TV network.

While gunfire had been heard in some locations of the country’s commercial hub, Cotonou, during the coup attempt, the city has been relatively calm since early afternoon, according to residents.

ECOWAS to send troops

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc and the African Union also condemned the coup attempt.

In a statement later on Sunday, ECOWAS said it had ordered the immediate deployment of elements of its standby force to Benin, including troops from Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the Ivory Coast and Ghana.

It said the troops would help the Beninese government and army “preserve constitutional order and the territorial integrity of the Republic of Benin”.

The coup attempt came as Benin prepares for a presidential election in April, which is expected to mark the end of Talon’s tenure.

Last month, Benin adopted a new constitution, creating a Senate and extending the presidential mandate from five to seven years. Critics have described the reforms as a power grab by the governing coalition, which has chosen Minister of Economy and Finance Romuald Wadagni as its candidate.

The opposition Democrats party, founded by Talon’s predecessor, Thomas Boni Yayi, has meanwhile seen its proposed candidate rejected because of what a court ruled was insufficient backing from lawmakers.

Ibrahim Yahaya Ibrahim, deputy director of the Sahel Project at the International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera that the coup bids in Benin and other African countries have been partly driven by governments rejecting their democratic responsibilities.

“In recent days and recent months, we have all been holding our breath about what could happen in many countries that are either facing security situations that are bad, or are coming to an election, where there is no clarity on whether the rulers will be respecting the rules of the democratic game,” Yahaya said.

“That is a good part of the story [in Benin]. President Talon has accepted to step down in a context where many other leaders are trying to add new terms. We saw it in Cote d’Ivoire, we saw it in Cameroon recently, and many other cases. But the less positive part of the story is that the leader of the opposition’s candidacy has been invalidated in Benin,” he added.

By David D. Lee, Al Jazeera