The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested several staff members of the Nigerian Skyway Aviation Handling Company Plc at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano State, accusing them of planting illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting pilgrims traveling to Saudi Arabia for the lesser hajj.
The arrests stem from an investigation into the wrongful detention of three Nigerian pilgrims—Maryam Abdullahi, Abdullahi Aminu, and Abdulhamid Saddiq—who were apprehended by Saudi authorities in Jeddah upon arrival on August 6, 2025.
The pilgrims, who boarded Ethiopian Airlines flight ET940 from Kano via Addis Ababa, were unaware that six additional bags, three containing narcotics, had been fraudulently checked in under their names by members of a criminal syndicate.
NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the details during a press briefing at the agency’s national headquarters in Abuja on Monday, August 25, 2025.
He explained that the case surfaced after the NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (retd.), received petitions from the families of the detained pilgrims.
“The three innocent Nigerians are victims of a syndicate operating at the airport, who exploited their light luggage to tag drug-laden bags without their knowledge,” Babafemi stated.
Investigations revealed that the mastermind, 55-year-old drug kingpin Mohammed Ali Abubakar (aka Bello Karama), coordinated the operation with accomplices including Abdulbasit Adamu, Murtala Akande Olalekan, and Celestina Yayock.
Abubakar allegedly supplied seven bags, three of which carried the illicit substances, while Yayock and another suspect, Jazuli Kabir, confessed to checking in bags for fees of N100,000 each.
Receipts showing transfers totaling N200,000 were recovered as evidence.Babafemi noted that one victim, Abdullahi Aminu, had only checked in a single 9kg bag, which mysteriously did not arrive with her initially. It was only on August 16— a day before their scheduled departure—that authorities informed her of additional luggage, leading to her detention.
The other two pilgrims faced similar fates, remaining in custody in Jeddah for crimes they had no involvement in.Six syndicate members are now in NDLEA custody, with four—Abubakar, Adamu, Olalekan, and Yayock—already charged in court.
All have provided confessional statements. The agency is collaborating with Saudi authorities to secure the pilgrims’ release and exoneration.
Marwa is set to present findings to Saudi delegates at an international drug conference.
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