The senate said this following a Point of Order by Sen. Kabiru Gaya at plenary on Tuesday.

Zainab Aliyu, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano, and Ibrahim Abubakar, were arrested in Saudi Arabia for alleged drug trafficking in Dec. 2018 when she was arrested at the Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina because Tramadol, a banned drug was allegedly found in her bag.

Zainab, however, claimed it was planted in her luggage by unknown persons.

Similarly, Aabubakar was arrested in that country for alleged drug-related offence.

While referring to Order 43 of the Senate Standing Rule, Gaya said he deemed it necessary to thank President Muhammadu Buhari, the Senate, and all who contributed to their release.

He said: “I want to appreciate the senate for supporting us during the motion I raised for the release of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar.

“Zainab, and Ibrahim, a 75-year old Imam in Kano have returned from Saudi Arabia and joined their families.

“I thank President Buhari, Nigerians on social media, and all those that worked to ensure their release.”

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said their release was “a great relief to Nigerians in all parts of the country”.

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The ministry said this in a statement by its Acting Spokesperson, Friday Akpan, on Thursday in Abuja

“Zainab Aliyu, a Nigerian student who travelled for Lesser Hajj with her mother was arrested by Saudi Security Officials on Dec. 26, 2018, in a hotel in Madinah.

“She was accused of possessing a bag containing illicit drugs purportedly bearing a tag with her name.

“Another passenger, Ibrahim Abubakar, unrelated to Zainab who also travelled on the same aircraft, was also arrested on the same day,” it stated.

The ministry explained that Zainab Aliyu was released on April 30, while Ibrahim Abubakar was released on May 1.

It also stressed that the intervention by President Muhammadu Buhari directing that all efforts be exerted to secure their release facilitated the expedited final favourable resolution of the matter.

While explaining further its efforts on the release of the two Nigerians, the ministry stated that on receipt of the information on their arrest, the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah intervened.

It stated that Nigerian Mission in Saudi then requested for full investigation to ascertain the innocence of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar.

“Investigations conducted by the Airport Authorities and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kano discovered a drug cartel at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, that specialises in planting illicit drugs on innocent travellers without their knowledge.

“It was also discovered that the bag tagged in Zainab’s name was planted by the cartel without her knowledge.

“Following the arrest of members of the cartel, the Federal Government is currently prosecuting the suspects in the Federal High Court, Kano.

“The outcome of the investigation and subsequent trial of the suspects confirmed the innocence of the two Nigerians.

“The Consulate General of Nigeria in Jeddah, upon instruction from Headquarters, therefore sent series of Diplomatic Notes to the Saudi Foreign Ministry informing of the arrest of members of the syndicate in Kano and forwarding the report of the NDLEA investigation and court proceeding.”

It stated that investigation documents were forwarded to the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah to further support the innocence of the two Nigerians and also resolve the issue of luggage tag numbers.

According to the ministry, following these efforts, officials in the Consulate secured appointment and met with the Director General of the Saudi Foreign Ministry, Jeddah.

It said that the DG then requested the official in the consulate to forward the NDLEA report to all concerned Saudi agencies with a view to releasing Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar.

“All these processes followed were consistent with the usual diplomatic channel of engagement.

“To maintain the diplomatic pressure, another Note was sent by our Embassy in Riyadh conveying the same message to the Saudi Authorities.

“On April 26, a Note was also sent to both the Saudi Embassy in Abuja and its Consulate in Kano, forwarding court documents relating to the trial of members of the Kano syndicate,” it stated.

It added that the Legal Adviser of the Saudi Foreign Ministry confirmed that relevant agencies and departments in Saudi Arabia were going to meet to consider all the Notes Verbal and reports submitted by Nigeria.

This, it stated, was to facilitate early resolution of the case of Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar.

The ministry added that the judicial and legal process in Nigeria alos provided the critical documentation that aided the diplomatic efforts to establish the innocence of both Zainab Aliyu and Ibrahim Abubakar.

It stated that the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Jeddah is currently processing travel documents for the two individuals to facilitate their return to Nigeria.

The Ministry commended the Saudi Government, through its Embassy in Abuja and officials of Saudi Foreign Ministry, for cooperating with Nigeria in the eventual resolution of the matter.

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Bashir Ahmad, media aide to President Muhammadu Buhari, made this known via Twitter on Thursday.

“Saudi Authorities release Mallam Ibrahim Abubakar to the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah, KSA. He was arrested over alleged drug trafficking, the same offence as Zainab Habib Aliyu, who was also released recently,” he tweeted.

Suleiman Mustapha, permanent secretary of the ministry of foreign affairs, had earlier announced that Abubakar would be released.

Abubakar’s release comes two days after Zainab Aliyu, a student of Yusuf Maitama Sule University, Kano, regained freedom after being detained by the Saudi authorities for alleged possession of illicit drugs.

Aliyu spent four months in prison.

President Muhammadu Buhari had directed Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, to facilitate the release of the Nigerians.

Saudi Arabia has zero tolerance for drug trafficking. Some Nigerians have been executed over the crime, the latest being Kudirat Afolabi, a widow and mother of two.

Afolabi was killed on April 1. At least 20 Nigerians are on death row in Saudi over drug-related offences.

The post Saudi releases another Nigerian arrested for drug trafficking appeared first on New Mail Nigeria.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the unknown gunmen numbering about eight, invaded the Peace Community, Road 3, Ganaja road, Lokoja residence of Abubakar at about 2:05 Saturday morning.

Residents of the area, who spoke with journalists, said they heard gunshots from the residence of the chairman of Fulani socio-cultural group. The shots lasted over an hour.

They said the gunmen passed through “unfamiliar routes” to gain access to the deceased’s residence beating the ‘C’ Division Police Station route where they could have been spotted and questioned.

A neighbour who identified himself simply as Musa, said there were some strange faces in the vicinity much earlier before the incident, not knowing they had a sinister motive.

Musa said the gunmen shot at the door to the room of one of the deceased’s two wives and gained access into the house, machete the deceased on the neck and other parts of the body and later shot him severally.

A medical practitioner with the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja, Sam Alhassan, who lives a stone throw from the victim’s residence said: “I was in my room which is just steps away to his house and I started hearing gunshots”.

“Then I rose up from my bed and looked through the window. I saw a group of bandits in two lines. At least I saw eight people, and they started shooting, shooting and shooting.

“The next thing that I saw was that a bullet hit the overhead tank and water started running down. Later I and my family went quiet for a while; then the wife of the deceased came out shouting, ‘they have killed my husband,” he said.

Alhassan said he later came out with his landlord and went into the deceased’s house to ascertain the truth; only to find him lying in the pool of his blood with machete cuts and bullet holes in his lifeless body.

The medical practitioner said it was unclear if the gunmen took cash or property from the house.

He, however, called on security agencies to be proactive in crime prevention and detection mandate to avoid loss of innocent lives.

The Police Public Relations Officer, Williams Aya, told NAN that the command had got the report, adding that the incident was a clear case of assassination.

Aya said investigation into the matter had commenced adding that the Police was yet to make any arrest in respect of the assassination.

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