Three Nigerian pilgrims who have been in detention after completing their lesser hajj in Saudi Arabia over drug trafficking allegations they knew nothing about may soon regain freedom.
This is because Nigeria’s anti-narcotics agency, NDLEA, has unmasked the real culprits, a syndicate operating at the Kano airport and is pushing for the release of the innocent victims.
According to NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the detained Nigerians, Maryam Hussain Abdullahi, Abdullahi Bahijja Aminu and Abdulhamid Saddiq, were victims of a criminal conspiracy at the Kano airport where their travel details were secretly used to check in drug-laden bags.
Fortunately for them, a 55-year-old drug kingpin, Mohammed Ali Abubakar, also known as Bello Karama, was paraded by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, alongside members of his syndicate after investigators linked them to illicit drug shipments tagged in the names of three pilgrims arrested in Jeddah earlier this month.
The NDLEA spokesman added that on the 6th of August, 2025, the bags were smuggled onto an Ethiopian Airlines flight by members of the syndicate working with aviation ground staff, while the real traffickers flew separately.
He said confessional statements and payment transfers have since been recovered.
Babafemi also disclosed that NDLEA Chairman, Mohamed Marwa is set to engage Saudi authorities to ensure the release of the innocent Nigerians, stressing that Nigeria will never abandon its citizens wrongly accused abroad.
(Editor: Okechukwu Eze)
