Lady Wrongly Detained In Saudi Prison On Drug Charges Joins NDLEA

Zainab Habibu Kila, a lady who was wrongly charged and detained for four months by the Saudi Arabian anti-drug trafficking agency over alleged drug trafficking charges has joined the Nigerian National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

Zainab’s father, Habibu Kila, on Saturday confirmed to DAILY NIGERIAN she was commissioned into the service of the agency as Assistant Narcotic Officer, joining about 2,000 newly trained NDLEA officers commissioned at the agency’s academy in Jos, Plateau State on Friday.

Zainab Habibu Kila and Parents

On December 26, 2018, Miss Aliyu, an indigene of Jigawa State and then a student at Maitama Sule University, Kano, was arrested by Saudi authorities for allegedly travelling with a luggage containing unlawful substances believed to be tramadol.

She had travelled through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) for Lesser Hajj with her mother, Maryam, and sister, Hajara.

At the Jeddah Airport, the Saudi Authorities intercepted the bag and later traced  and arrested her in her hotel room.

After several appeals by her parents, media and civil society organization, authorities discovered that drug barons, in connivance with Kano airport workers, tagged a luggage containing the drugs in her name.

After Nigerian and Saudi authorities independently investigated the matter and established her innocence, she was released on April 30, 2019 and returned home two weeks after.