A drug syndicate operating at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport has been busted. This follows the outcome of investigations carried out by b
A drug syndicate operating at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport has been busted. This follows the outcome of investigations carried out by both the NDLEA and the Nigeria Police (Kano State Command).
The drug syndicate working in cohort with greedy airline officials at the airport, have perfected the art of checking in extra bags containing prohibited drugs, particularly Tramadol, using the particulars of innocent passengers and baggage tags presumably assigned to such passengers travelling to Saudi Arabia. This leads to the arrest of Nigerians who have no links with drug trafficking
In the case of Ms. Zainab Habibu Aliyu and pursuant to a complaint lodged by her father, Alhaji Bashir Usman Sani (in Nigeria), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigeria Police (Kano State Command) thoroughly investigated the case and six suspects were arrested and charged to Federal High Court, Kano.
The accused persons are, Messrs Idris Umar Shehu (Alias Umar Sande), Sani Suleiman, Nuhu Adamu, Udosen Itoro Henry, Sani Hamisu and Ms Rhoda Adetunji. They were charged with conspiring to export Tramadol to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and for illegally checking in additional baggage containing the banned substance and linking same to Ms. Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar, passengers on board Ethopian Airline flight ET 941/ET 402 to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 24th December, 2018.
In the same vein, seven other suspects, namely, Yusuf Isa Ahmad, Shaba Umaru, Diwawu Mustapha, Shafiu Musa, Murtala Muhammad, Musa Haruna and Hajiya Gawure Abba Aji were also arrested and charged to court with criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and drug trafficking. They were also accused of tagging additional drug-laden baggages and falsely linking same to Messrs Bashir Usman Sani and Amdani Salisu Maikasuwa.
Again, Messrs Rabiu Mahmud Sani and Anthony/Johnson as well as Mrs. Celestine Emanuel Yayok were also charged with fraudulency tagging and exporting a bag containing psychotropic drugs suspected to be Tramadol using the passport details of Ibrahim Ibrahim Abubakar Ibrahim.
There are currently 24 Nigerians on death row in Saudi Arabia who may be beheaded any time from now for drug trafficking in contravention of the Kingdom’s Narcotic and Psychotropic Substances Control Law issued under Decree No. M/39 dated 8/7/1428AH. This is besides the 12 Nigerian women who are serving various jail terms for drug trafficking in the kingdom and according to TheNation, unless President Muhammadu Buhari intervenes, the death toll could be higher.
The late response of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to a memo from the Nigerian Consul-General, Amb. M. S. Yunusa, is believed to have contributed to the execution of a Nigerian woman, Kudirat Adeshola Afolabi about two weeks ago. It was learnt that the ministry had been diplomatically slow in responding to issues connected with Nigerians.
