Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two suspected kidnapping kingpins during covert operations at Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto.
The suspects, Yahaya Yakubu and Sani Aliyu Galadi, were reportedly preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage when they were apprehended.
Security sources revealed that both men had been on the DSS watchlist for over a year.
Their arrests were made possible during routine screenings of intending pilgrims at the respective camps.
Yakubu, a resident of Paikon-Kore in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was arrested at the Abuja Hajj camp. Galadi, also known as “Mai Boxer” and a native of Zamfara State, was picked up at the Sokoto Hajj camp, nearly 750 kilometres away.
Galadi is believed to have been involved in multiple bandit attacks across the Sokoto–Zamfara corridor, while Yakubu is suspected of orchestrating a series of kidnappings in and around the FCT.
Sources said Yakubu was detained after presenting his passport alongside other pilgrims, while Galadi was flown to the DSS headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation.
An official from the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, speaking anonymously, also confirmed the arrests.