The Federal Government has revealed how seven suspected commanders of Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) were identified and arrested at Katsina International Airport after returning from the 2026 Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed the breakthrough on Friday shortly after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) Act, 2026, into law, describing the operation as a major success for Nigeria’s integrated digital identity and border security system.
According to the minister, the suspected terrorist commanders were intercepted immediately after arriving in Nigeria when the country’s integrated identity verification platform flagged them for security agencies.
The suspects were subsequently arrested and handed over to the Department of State Services (DSS) for further investigation.
Explaining how the operation was executed, Tunji-Ojo said the arrests were made possible by the integration of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database with the Nigeria Immigration Service and international security platforms, including Interpol.
“We inherited a fragmented identity management system where government databases operated independently. Today, our immigration database is fully integrated with NIMC and linked to Interpol’s 24-hour security network.
“It was through this integrated platform that seven known commanders of Boko Haram and ISWAP returning from Mecca were identified at Katsina Airport last Thursday, arrested and handed over to the DSS,” the minister said.
President Tinubu assented to the NIMC Act, 2026, during a ceremony at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, attended by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Benjamin Kalu, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Dr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and other senior government officials.
Tunji-Ojo described the legislation as a landmark reform designed to deepen the harmonisation of Nigeria’s identity databases, strengthen the integrity of the National Identity Number (NIN), enhance collaboration among government agencies and improve the country’s ability to combat terrorism, identity theft, financial crimes and other transnational offences.
He added that the integrated identity ecosystem has also transformed Nigeria’s passport issuance process, making it impossible for anyone to obtain a Nigerian passport without undergoing identity verification through the NIMC database.
According to the minister, the reforms have significantly strengthened intelligence gathering and border security by providing security agencies with access to a unified identity platform capable of tracking high-risk individuals across multiple government databases.
Tunji-Ojo maintained that the arrest of the seven suspected Boko Haram and ISWAP commanders demonstrates the effectiveness of the Tinubu administration’s digital identity reforms in detecting security threats, tightening border controls and preventing suspected terrorists from evading law enforcement agencies.
