Seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders were arrested at Katsina’s Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport upon returning from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage, raising serious unanswered questions about how they obtained travel clearance, cleared Nigerian and Saudi security screening, and whether any were government-sponsored pilgrims, according to a Premium Times investigation.
TERROR SUSPECTS WENT TO MECCA. NIGERIA KNEW — AND WATCHED
Seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders travelled to Mecca on valid Nigerian passports, completed the full Hajj pilgrimage, and were quietly arrested upon returning to Katsina airport — in an operation a Premium Times investigation reveals was a deliberate tactical decision by federal intelligence agencies who watchlisted the suspects before their return flight landed.
Officials told Premium Times that the intelligence investigation had not matured sufficiently to authorise a departure interception, but was fully established before the suspects’ aircraft re-entered Nigerian airspace, with biometric alerts pre-circulated to the Katsina Airport Command.
The operation, however, exposed alarming institutional gaps. NAHCON says it does not conduct background checks. The Katsina Pilgrims Welfare Board refused to explain its screening procedures. Immigration says terror tracking belongs to intelligence agencies. The result, according to civil society groups, is a fragmented system where nobody owns pre-departure vetting — and suspected terrorists can complete Hajj before anyone acts.
NEWS NOW:
