Nigeria’s Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has revealed that security operatives intercepted and arrested seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders as they arrived at Katsina Airport from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
According to the minister, the suspects were identified through the country’s integrated identity management system and immediately handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for further investigation.
Tunji-Ojo made the disclosure at the Presidential Villa in Abuja following President Bola Tinubu’s signing of the 2026 National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act into law. He described the arrests as proof that ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s identity management and border control systems are producing results.
He explained that key government databases, including those of the National Identity Management Commission and the Nigeria Immigration Service, are now linked and connected to Interpol, making it easier to detect wanted persons entering the country.
He said:
“With this law, our security architecture can be enhanced. When Mr. President came on board, we had a disconnected system within our identity data management system. At that time, getting a passport and getting a driving permit were completely disconnected from our identity database. But today, you can’t get a Nigerian passport without pulling data from NIMC.
“What you have in immigration is what you have in the NIMC database, and let me say this clearly, that it has even helped our border control process. I know, sometime ago, the Senate President was alarmed by how some terrorists went on pilgrimage, wondering how they crossed our borders. We inherited a fractured system.
“But I’m happy to tell you that even last week, Thursday, seven of the known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP at the point of coming back from Mecca were arrested in Katsina at the airport and were handed over to the DSS.
“This is only possible because NIMC’s ID is already connected with the immigration database, and it’s already speaking to even the Interpol 24/7, and we have been able to automate this.”
His remarks come amid recent controversy over claims that the Katsina State Government sponsored some non-state actors for the Hajj pilgrimage, an allegation the state government has strongly denied, describing it as false and misleading.
