… Says suspects Confessed Receiving N100,000 Each To Frame Pilgrims Up
…Commends Keyamo, Kuku, AVSEC ,DSS For Collaborating
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency((NDLEA) has arrested and detained two staff of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) PLC, Celestina Emmanuel Yayock and Jazuli Kabir, for allegedly framing up Maryam Hussain Abdullahi and two other pilgrims up after receiving N100,000 each.
The NDLEA said they confessed to the crime and that they also confessed that they were given N100,000 each to tag pilgrims’ bags containing illicit substances and that the SAHCO staff were part of a criminal syndicate.
The anti drug agency explained that his syndicate operated at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) in Kano.
According to NDLEA, th three Nigerian pilgrims boarded an Ethiopian Airline flight ET940 on August 6, 2025, which originated from Kano to Jeddah en route Addis-Ababa.
The NDLEA further explained that trio Nigerians pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage but that on arrival at Arab country drugs were discovered in there luggage, this the NDLEA , said let to the detention of Mrs. Maryam Hussain Abdullahi, Mrs. Abdullahi Bahijja Aminu, and Mr. Abdulhamid Saddiq .
The anti drug agency said that the trio would be executed if they are found guilty according to Saudi Arabia’s law on drug trafficking, and smuggling.
Unfortunately, the NDLEA said, they
were tagged with six extra bags and three of these luggages were found to contain illicit drugs.
“The bags were tagged and checked in by members of staff of Skyway Aviation Handling Company who are also members of the criminal syndicate, to the names of the three complainants secretly and without their knowledge or consent. The bags illegally tagged against the complainants’ names are the ones intercepted in Saudi Arabia and found to contain the illicit drug substances. For the above reasons, the three complainants were arrested and detained for crimes they had no knowledge of.”
Six members of the syndicate are in NDLEA custody. Four have been charged to court. They are the 55-year-old drug kingpin Ali Abubakar Mohammed (aka Bello Karama), Abdulbasit Adamu, Murtala Akande Olalekan, and Celestina Emmanuel Yayock.
The NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in company of the Director of Assets and Financial Investigation, Dr. Abdul Ibrahim, and Director of Prosecution and Legal Services, Theresa Asuquo, addressed the media in Abuja.
NDLEA briefing detailed blow by blow account of the agency’s investigation into the drug syndicate that framed three innocent Nigerian pilgrims, highlighting the role of airport staff, who were paid to carry out the crime played
The Criminal Conspiracy Unravels
Speaking further Babafemi, said the suspects made confessional statements, admitting to bringing in seven bags.
Babafemi , said that Celestina confessed to checking in two of them for N100,000 while another suspect, Jazuli Kabir, checked in two other bags and also collected N100,000.
Ali , he said traveled with the remaining three bags on Egypt Air and that NDLEA has receipts of the money transfer, adding that the sum of N200,000 went from Ali to Celestina and Celestina then transferred N100,000 to Jazuli.
Babafemi in the statement informed that investigation was prompted by complaints from the victims’ families.
He said that upon receiving the complaints, NDLEA traced the bags back to the drug kingpin, Abubakar, adding that he was the mastermind behind the operation.
The bags, the NDLEA spokesman said were secretly checked in by members of the criminal syndicate.
Babafemi revealed that the two SAHCO staff, Yayock and Kabir, confessed to checking in the fraudulent bags in the name of the pilgrims.
Babafemi, stated that the two SAHCO staff also confessed that they were paid N100,000 each for the job.
The two suspects, the NDLEA image maker said are now in NDLEA custody, along with Abubakar and other members of the notorious syndicate.
He pointed out that they are facing multiple charges.
On what will happen to the three innocent Nigerian Pilgrims, Babafemi, said that the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), is engaging with his Saudi counterparts and that he plans to present the agency’s findings to the General Directorate of Narcotics Control (GDNC) in Saudi Arabia.
Babafemi said that the NDLEA boss will o the Saudi authorities that the three pilgrims are innocent and that they are clearly victims of a criminal conspiracy.
“In the light of the foregoing, and the evidence gathered by the Agency in the course of our investigation, it is clear that Mrs. Maryam Abdullahi and two others who are being detained in Saudi are victims of circumstance, implicated by the activities of a criminal syndicate operating at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.”
“The NDLEA is committed to ensuring the innocent are not punished. They are working to bring the detained pilgrims home.
According to Babafemi,
“While investigations continue, the CCEO will like to appreciate the Hon. Min of Aviation and Aerospace Development, the Managing Director of FAAN, the AVSEC and the DSS for their collaboration on this case and for the interim measures that have been approved in MAKIA to prevent a reoccurrence of this type of situation,” the NDLEA statement reads.
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