By Omodele Adigun
The three pilgrims were part of those whose luggage was tampered with by a drug trafficking syndicate.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced this at a presser on Wednesday.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, explained that their release followed an engagement between the NDLEA and the Saudi government.
He said the three pilgrims would soon arrive in the country.
“Saudi Arabia authorities have released three Nigerian pilgrims who were detained in Jeddah since last month following their arrest over alleged drug trafficking.
“The three Nigerians who were freed from detention after four weeks in custody include Mrs Maryam Hussain Abdullahi, Mrs Abdullahi Bahijja Aminu, and Mr Abdulhamid Saddieq,” said the spokesman.
Babafemi, however, advised air passengers to always ensure the appropriate tagging of their luggage before departure to avoid being implicated by drug dealers.
In August, the NDLEA arrested a suspected drug kingpin and five members of his syndicate, accused of planting narcotics on innocent pilgrims travelling through the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), leading to the detention of three Nigerians in Saudi Arabia.
It said the syndicate, led by a 55-year-old man it identified as Mohammed Abubakar alias Bello Karama, was responsible for smuggling illicit substances aboard Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940, which departed Kano on August 6 for Jeddah via Addis Ababa.
Those implicated by the syndicate included a 39-year-old mother of five, Maryam Hussaini; Mrs. Abdullahi Aminu, and Abdulhamid Saddiq, all of whom are still being held by Saudi authorities on the allegation of drug trafficking.
NDLEA’s spokesperson said investigations revealed that the three pilgrims each checked in only one personal bag.
Babafemi said that members of the syndicate — in collusion with Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) staff — tagged six additional bags in the passengers’ names, three of which contained drugs.
“The bags containing narcotics were secretly tagged against the complainants’ names without their knowledge or consent,” he told reporters in Abuja.
He said that Karama travelled separately on Egypt Air, while his accomplices checked in the drug-laden luggage on Ethiopian Airlines.
Other suspects identified by the spokesman were Abdulbasit Adamu, Murtala Olalekan, Celestina Yayock, and Jazuli Kabir, who he said had confessed to their roles, with evidence of payments traced to them.
Babafemi had also disclosed that the NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), would meet officials of Saudi Arabia’s General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) during an upcoming international drug conference to present Nigeria’s findings and push for the release of the detainees.
NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brigadier General Buba Marwa, briefs reporters at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on April 27, 2022.
“Armed with the outcome of the NDLEA investigation and charges filed against members of the syndicate, as well as other evidence to prove the innocence of the three Nigerian pilgrims, Marwa engaged with his Saudi counterpart at multiple levels and different locations, including Saudi Arabia, in compliance with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda that no Nigerian suffers unjustly in a foreign land.
“Following the series of engagements, one of the three Nigerians was released from custody on September 14, and the remaining two on September 15, 2025,” Babafemi disclosed.
Expressing happiness over the development, Marwa commended his counterpart at the Saudi GDNC for upholding the essence of the Memorandum of Understanding between NDLEA and GDNC on collaboration and partnership.
“The biggest support of our effort on this case came from President Tinubu who is committed to ensuring that every Nigerian gets their deserved respect and fair treatment wherever they are across the world.
“And that is what has come to play in this case, that no Nigerian is unjustly punished for crimes they know nothing about anywhere in the world.
“We equally appreciate the assistance provided by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN; the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo SAN, as well as the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, who were with us all the way on the matter,” Marwa was quoted as saying.
The arrest and detention of the pilgrims had sparked fresh concerns over airport security and baggage handling in Nigeria, with authorities promising tighter checks at the Kano airport to prevent similar incidents.
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