Seven suspected commanders from Boko Haram and ISWAP were arrested at Katsina airport last week. They were returning from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, Interior Minister Dr.
Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo announced.
Officials handed the suspects over to the Department of State Services immediately. Tunji-Ojo credited Nigeria's integrated identity management system with making the arrests possible.
He spoke at the State House in Abuja after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the 2026 National Identity Management Commission Act into law. According to him, the operation proved how effective the government's security reforms have become.
The new legislation marks a major milestone for the country. It will strengthen internal security and make government services more accessible to citizens, the minister noted.
When the current administration took office, Nigeria's identity system was broken into pieces. Critical databases operated separately from one another, creating serious gaps.
"We had a disconnected system," Tunji-Ojo told reporters. Getting a passport used to be completely separate from getting a driver's license, he explained.
Everything changed after the reforms took hold. Now passport applications pull directly from NIMC data, he said.
Immigration records align with the NIMC database in real time. The system even communicates with Interpol around the clock, the minister added.
"This makes our border control much stronger," according to him. Tunji-Ojo noted that the Senate President had previously expressed alarm about terrorists crossing borders to attend Hajj.
"Last Thursday, we caught seven known Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders returning from Mecca at Katsina airport," he said. None of this would've happened under the old fragmented system, he stressed.
The development stirred controversy in Katsina State, however. During a recent Trust TV broadcast, Dr.
Bashir Kurfi claimed the state government sponsored non-state actors to perform Hajj.
Katsina officials denied the accusation flatly. Commissioner for Internal Security Nasir Mua'zu issued a statement calling the allegation baseless and false.
"The claim is entirely unfounded and lacks any factual basis," the commissioner said. He described it as a deliberate lie aimed at confusing the public.
Mua'zu insisted the accusation was meant to undermine security efforts across the state. The government expressed concern about the timing of such claims.
Security agencies have been recording real progress against banditry lately. Criminal activities in the region have declined significantly, officials maintain.
"These accusations are designed to distract from our achievements," according to the statement. Mua'zu said the allegations would create unnecessary distrust among residents.
