The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has said that seven suspected Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) commanders were arrested at Katsina airport after performing the pilgrimage in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Mr Tunji-Ojo disclosed this development shortly after President Bola Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act 2026 into law on Friday.
The minister said the suspects were arrested through an integrated security system that links the databases of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and Interpol.
“I know, some time ago, the senate president said something on the floor of the senate, that some people went on pilgrimage, some terrorists and etcetera, how did they cross our borders?” he said.
“Because what we inherited was a fractured system. But I’m happy to tell you that even last week Thursday, seven of the known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP, at the point of coming back, were arrested in Katsina at the airport and were handed over to the SSS.
“And this is only possible because NIMC’s ID is already connected with the immigration database and is already speaking to Interpol 24/7. And we have been able to automate this.”
He added that the federal government has completed an Integrated Operations Centre (IOC) to enhance internal security and improve surveillance coordination across Nigeria’s air and maritime borders.
“And with the new IOC that the ministry of interior has built — which is the first time in the history of Nigeria that we will be having an Integrated Operations Centre managing our internal security processes — all our maritime and our air border systems have been fully controlled,” he said.
“And that was evident last week. They thought it was business as usual, when they will leave and come back, but they were picked right there and handed over to the SSS on Thursday.
“We had to airlift them to Abuja on Saturday and hand them over. They’re in custody as we speak.”
President Tinubu had earlier signed the NIMC 2026 Act into law with NIMC to be positioned at the heart of Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure and National Public Key Infrastructure.