A Nigerian woman, Zainab Aliyu, who was detained in Saudi Arabia over alleged drug trafficking in 2018 has been enlisted as an officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
She was commissioned on Friday with colleagues after going through the procedure successfully at the agency’s academy in Jos, Plateau State.
Zainab had been arrested when a banned drug, tramadol, was found in her bag on arrival in the south-western Asian country, but she insisted it was planted in her luggage by unknown people.
The then suspect, who was a student of Maitama Sule University, had travelled from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, with her mother, Maryam Aliyu, and sister, Hajara Aliyu, but was arrested over the matter.
She was accused of entering Saudi Arabia with an illegal dosage of Tramadol, but it was discovered she was a victim of a cartel at the airport in Kano that specialises in keeping hard drugs in travellers’ bags.
She was later released by the Saudi Arabian anti-drug trafficking agency after four months in detention.
She returned to the country, completed NYSC scheme, and now became an official of the NDLEA.