In a dramatic security operation, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested six suspected bandits, three men and three women at the Kaduna International Airport, shortly after they returned from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
According to SaharaReporters, the arrests occurred at about 3:40am on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. A top intelligence source confirmed, “Today, at 3:40 a.m, operatives of DSS arrested six suspected bandits, three men and three women, at the Kaduna Airport upon their return from Hajj.”
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The operation was based on intelligence that linked the suspects to banditry activities in northern Nigeria.
Authorities believe the individuals may have used the pilgrimage as a cover to evade arrest or to seek international refuge. Their identities have not yet been made public as investigations continue.
The arrest echoes a similar incident on May 19, 2025, when alleged kidnap kingpin Sani Galadi was nabbed at the Sultan Abubakar International Airport in Sokoto, also while attempting to travel for Hajj.
Galadi was detained at the Hajj terminal during routine screening and was later confirmed to be under investigation.
A Sokoto State Pilgrims Welfare Agency official clarified Galadi was not on their manifest, adding, “The suspect is not a pilgrim from Sokoto but from Zamfara State.”
This latest arrest underscores the DSS’s increasing use of pre- and post-Hajj screenings as a strategy to intercept high-profile criminal suspects.
The agency has ramped up coordination with state pilgrims’ boards to prevent wanted individuals from exploiting religious pilgrimages as escape routes.
