Eagle-eyed operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have arrested two high-profile suspected kidnap kingpins in a covert operation as they attempted to travel to Saudi Arabia for the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.
According to a report on Sunday, Yahaya Yakubu, a suspected ringleader from Paikon-Kore village in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was apprehended during screening at the Abuja Hajj camp.
He was reportedly in line with other intending pilgrims when DSS operatives arrived and took him into custody.
In a separate but related operation nearly 750 kilometers away, Zamfara native Sani Aliyu Galadi, also known as “Mai Boxer,” was arrested at the Sokoto Hajj camp.
Security sources said both suspects had been under surveillance for over a year, with their arrests strategically timed during Hajj screening activities nationwide.
Aliyu is believed to be linked to multiple banditry operations across the Sokoto-Zamfara axis. He was reportedly unaware that DSS officers were actively tracking him. Following his arrest, he was flown to the DSS headquarters in Abuja for further interrogation.
