Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested two suspected kidnap kingpins during a covert operation at Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto.
The suspects, Yahaya Yakubu and Sani Aliyu Galadi, were preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia when officers apprehended them at the camps.
Security sources said the DSS had monitored both men for over a year before the arrests adding that the operatives used routine screening procedures at the Hajj camps to identify and arrest the suspects.
Officers arrested Yakubu who resides in Paikon-Kore village, Gwagwalada Area Council, Federal Capital Territory at the Abuja Hajj camp while they picked up Galadi at the Sokoto Hajj camp, approximately 750 kilometres from Abuja. He comes from Zamfara State.
DSS operatives stationed at the Hajj camps recognized the suspects and quickly acted during the screening process. Sources identified Galadi, also known as “Mai Boxer,” as a leader of bandit attacks across the Sokoto–Zamfara region. They suspect Yakubu of organizing several kidnappings in and around the Federal Capital Territory.
A DSS officer arrested Yakubu as he presented his passport among other Hajj-bound pilgrims in Abuja.
An official of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board confirmed the arrest but asked to remain anonymous.
The DSS has flown Galadi from Sokoto to its headquarters in Abuja for further investigation.
TF
