The Federal Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on relevant stakeholders to step up awareness campaign for Nigerians travelling abroad not to accept to travel with any bag that they have not personally packed by themselves for the journey.
The warning is coming on the heels of first-of-its- kind favourable judgment given by Singapore’s Supreme Court on Adili Ejike, on death row for drug trafficking
According to Ejike’s defence, he did not know the content of a bag given to him in Nigeria, which contained two kilogrammes of methamphetamine, a drug banned in Singapore that attracts death sentence.
Ejike was arrested in 2011 and later sentenced to death because of that bag found in his possession on arrival in Singapore, which he denied knowledge of its content.
Acting on this fortunate Ejike’s case, and that of a Nigerian student, Zainab Aliyu and another man, Ibrahim Abubakar, who were in April released by the Saudi authorities after they were exonerated of drug trafficking.
Zainab Aliyu, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano, who travelled for Lesser Hajj in December 2018, was detained by the Saudi Arabia authorities for allegedly being in possession of banned substance.
“However, 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.
“The Airport Authorities and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, revealed that the drug cartel specialises in planting illicit drugs on innocent travelers without their knowledge.
“It was also discovered that the bag tagged in Zainab’s name was planted by the cartel without her knowledge.
“The members of the cartel were arrested and currently being prosecuted in the Federal High Court, Kano.
“The outcome of the investigation and subsequent trial of the suspects confirmed the innocence of the two Nigerians and that led to their release,’’ he said.
