DSS Nabs Wanted Kidnapper at Sokoto Hajj Camp
In a highly coordinated and discreet operation, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two notorious suspected kidnap kingpins as they attempted to leave Nigeria for Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
According to reports by LIB, one of the suspects, Yahaya Yakubu—allegedly a major player in kidnapping activities—was apprehended during routine screening at the Abuja Hajj camp.
Yakubu, who resides in Paikon-Kore village in the Gwagwalada area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was preparing to travel alongside other Muslim pilgrims when DSS agents swooped in and took him into custody.
Simultaneously, another high-profile suspect, Sani Aliyu Galadi—better known by his alias “Mai Boxer”—was arrested at the Hajj camp in Sokoto, nearly 750 kilometers from Abuja.
Galadi, who hails from Zamfara State, is believed to be behind a series of bandit attacks across the Sokoto-Zamfara corridor.
Security sources revealed that both men had been on the DSS watchlist for over a year.
The agency used the nationwide Hajj screening process as a strategic opportunity to track and detain the suspects without public disruption.
Aliyu has since been transferred from Sokoto to the DSS headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation.
Both suspects are expected to face prosecution as authorities continue efforts to dismantle kidnapping and banditry networks across the country.
DSS Nabs Wanted Kidnapper at Sokoto Hajj Camp