By Ado Oyeyemi
The Federal Government has disclosed that seven suspected commanders of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province were arrested at Katsina Airport while returning from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, said the arrests were made possible through Nigeria’s integrated identity management system, with the suspects subsequently handed over to the Department of State Services for further investigation.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja after President Bola Tinubu signed the 2026 National Identity Management Commission Act into law, the minister said the operation demonstrated the gains of ongoing reforms in the country’s identity management and border security architecture.
Tunji-Ojo explained that the present administration inherited a fragmented identity management system, where key government databases operated independently, making effective security screening difficult.
He noted that reforms introduced by the government have linked the National Identity Management Commission database with the Nigeria Immigration Service and international security platforms, including Interpol, allowing authorities to identify and intercept security threats more effectively.
According to him, the integration has also ensured that essential services, including passport processing, are directly connected to the national identity database.
The minister said the newly signed NIMC Act would further strengthen Nigeria’s internal security framework while improving access to government services through a more coordinated identity management system.
Meanwhile, the disclosure comes amid recent controversy over allegations that the Katsina State Government sponsored some non-state actors for the Hajj pilgrimage.
The allegation, made by Dr. Bashir Kurfi during a television programme, was dismissed by the state government as false and misleading.
In a statement, the Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Mua’zu, described the claim as baseless, insisting it was aimed at undermining the government’s efforts to combat insecurity.
The commissioner maintained that security agencies, with the support of the state government, had continued to record significant progress against banditry and other criminal activities, accusing unnamed individuals of attempting to politicise security matters for personal and political interests.
