Two well-known alleged kidnap kingpins were detained by Department of State Security (DSS) agents yesterday as they were leaving Nigeria to travel to Saudi Arabia for the holy pilgrimage.  

According to security sources, screening at Hajj sites around the nation gave the DSS the chance to apprehend the suspected abduction kingpins, who had been on the agency's radar for more than a year.  

The reports claim that both kidnap kingpins were apprehended by DSS officers at the Hajj camps in Abuja and Sokoto.  

Sani Aliyu Galadi, a native of Zamfara, was caught at the Sokoto Hajj camp some 750 kilometres away, while accused kingpin Yahaya Yakubu, who resides in Paikon-Kore village in the FCT's Gwagwalada area council, was apprehended at the Abuja Hajj camp.

The DSS officers quickly apprehended Zango and Aliyu after identifying them during a well-planned covert operation at the camps' screening point.  

The security sources said that Zango and Aliyu (also known as Mai Boxer), who is thought to be behind bandit assaults in the Sokoto-Zamfara axis, were unaware that DSS officers were still searching for them.  The source claimed that Aliyu has been airlifted from Sokoto to the DSS headquarters in Abuja.

Source