Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday arrested two high-profile suspected kidnap kingpins during a covert operation at Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto, as the suspects prepared to travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage.
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Security sources disclosed that the suspects — Yahaya Yakubu and Sani Aliyu Galadi — had been on the DSS watchlist for over a year, and that screening at various Hajj camps provided operatives the opportunity to apprehend them.
Yakubu, who resides in Paikon-Kore village in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was arrested at the Abuja Hajj camp, while Galadi, a native of Zamfara State, was picked up nearly 750 kilometres away at the Sokoto Hajj camp.
DSS officers stationed at both locations reportedly recognised the suspects during the routine screening of intending pilgrims and promptly arrested them.
According to sources, Galadi, also known as “Mai Boxer,” is believed to be responsible for several attacks by armed bandits across the Sokoto–Zamfara axis, while Yakubu is suspected of masterminding a series of kidnappings in and around the FCT.
“Yakubu presented his passport along with other Muslim travellers from Abuja who were preparing to embark on this year’s Hajj when DSS operatives apprehended him and whisked him away,” one source said.
An official of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, who requested anonymity, also confirmed the arrest.
Galadi has since been flown from Sokoto to the DSS headquarters in Abuja for further investigation.
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