DSS Captures Suspected Kidnappers at Sokoto Hajj Camps Abuja

By Joshua uti

DSS Captures Suspected Kidnappers at Sokoto Hajj Camps Abuja

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday arrested two suspected kidnapping kingpins during a covert operation carried out at Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto. The arrests took place as the suspects were preparing to travel to Saudi Arabia for the annual pilgrimage.According to security sources, the two men — Yahaya Yakubu and Sani Aliyu Galadi — had been under surveillance for over a year. The ongoing screening process at various Hajj camps created an opportunity for the DSS to track and detain them without raising suspicion.

Yakubu, a resident of Paikon-Kore village in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was taken into custody at the Abuja Hajj camp. Galadi, originally from Zamfara State, was apprehended nearly 750 kilometres away at the Sokoto Hajj camp. DSS personnel deployed at both camps reportedly identified the suspects during the routine screening of prospective pilgrims and swiftly detained them.

Sources revealed that Galadi, also known as “Mai Boxer,” is linked to multiple armed bandit operations across the Sokoto–Zamfara corridor, while Yakubu is believed to have orchestrated several kidnapping incidents within and around the Federal Capital Territtory.

Agents of the Department of State Services (DSS) yesterday captured two prominent suspected kidnapping ringleaders during a discreet operation carried out at Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto. The suspects were intercepted as they prepared to depart for Saudi Arabia to perform the annual pilgrimage. Security insiders revealed that the two men — Yahaya Yakubu and Sani Aliyu Galadi — had been under DSS surveillance for more than a year. The screening process at the Hajj camps offered a strategic moment for operatives to take them into custody.

Yakubu, who lives in Paikon-Kore village in the Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), was detained at the Abuja Hajj camp. Galadi, originally from Zamfara State, was apprehended nearly 750 kilometres away at the camp in Sokoto.

DSS personnel posted at both camps reportedly identified the suspects during routine checks on intending pilgrims and moved quickly to arrest them. Sources alleged that Galadi, also known by the alias “Mai Boxer,” has been linked to numerous bandit raids along the Sokoto–Zamfara corridor. Yakubu is accused of being the mastermind behind a number of kidnapping operations within and around the FCT. Yakubu handed over his travel documents along with other Muslim pilgrims from Abuja, but DSS agents moved in and quietly took him away,” one source stated.A staff member of the Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, who asked not to be named, also confirmed the arrest. Galadi has reportedly been transferred from Sokoto to the DSS headquarters in Abuja, where further inquiries are underway.

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