Seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders have been arrested at Katsina Airport after returning from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, in what the Federal Government describes as a major breakthrough in the use of digital identity technology to strengthen national security.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed the arrests on Friday at the State House in Abuja after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the 2026 National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act into law
According to the minister, the suspects were intercepted immediately after arriving from Mecca and were handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for further investigation.
Tunji-Ojo said the arrests were made possible through the integration of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database with the Nigeria Immigration Service and the Interpol network, allowing security agencies to identify high-risk individuals in real time.
“This is only possible because NIMC’s identity system is now connected with the immigration database and communicates with Interpol 24 hours a day,” the minister said.
He recalled that security agencies had previously expressed concern over how suspected terrorists were able to cross international borders to participate in religious pilgrimages without being detected.
The minister explained that the current administration inherited a fragmented identity management system but has since integrated key national databases, making it more difficult for criminal suspects to evade security checks.
“You can’t get a Nigerian passport today without your information being verified through the NIMC database,” Tunji-Ojo added.
President Tinubu described the newly signed 2026 NIMC Act as a major milestone that will modernise Nigeria’s identity management system, strengthen internal security, improve public service delivery and support the country’s growing digital economy.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu also welcomed the new law, saying it addresses emerging security and development challenges, while noting that the previous NIMC Act of 2007 had become outdated.
NIMC Director-General, Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, said the legislation reinforces the National Identification Number (NIN) as Nigeria’s primary means of identification and provides a modern legal framework for the country’s digital identity ecosystem nearly two decades after the original law was enacted.
