Seven individuals suspected of being commanders within Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have been apprehended by the Federal Government upon their return from the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, with their arrest taking place at Katsina Airport.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this on Friday shortly after President Bola Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission Act (NIMC), 2026, into law.
According to the minister, the suspects were identified immediately upon arrival in Nigeria via the country’s integrated identity verification platform, then handed over to the Department of State Services for further investigation.
Tunji-Ojo attributed the arrests to the integration of the National Identity Management Commission database with the Nigeria Immigration Service and international security platforms, including Interpol.
“We inherited a fragmented identity management system where government databases operated independently. Today, our immigration database is fully integrated with NIMC and linked to Interpol’s 24-hour security network.
“It was through this integrated platform that seven known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP returning from Mecca were identified at Katsina Airport last Thursday, arrested and handed over to the DSS,” he said.
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