Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two high-profile suspected kidnap kingpins as they attempted to leave Nigeria for Saudi Arabia to perform the Hajj pilgrimage.
Security sources revealed that the suspects had been under DSS surveillance for over a year. Their arrests were facilitated during routine screenings at various Hajj camps across the country.
According to the sources, DSS operatives apprehended the suspects at separate locations in Abuja and Sokoto Hajj camps.
Yahaya Yakubu, a resident of Paikon-Kore village in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was detained at the Abuja camp.
Meanwhile, Sani Aliyu Galadi, a native of Zamfara State, was arrested nearly 750 kilometres away at the Sokoto camp.
In a meticulously coordinated covert operation, DSS personnel identified and detained both individuals during the screening processes at the camps.
Sources stated that the two suspects, Zango and Aliyu, who also goes by the alias Mai Boxer and is believed to be linked to bandit attacks in the Sokoto-Zamfara axis were both unaware they were still under surveillance by the DSS.
It was also disclosed that Aliyu has since been flown from Sokoto to DSS headquarters in Abuja for further investigation.