Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested five security personnel on bribery charges connected to the controversial attempt to detain former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport on February 12, 2026.
The suspects — identified as Ayuba Yakubu of the Nigeria Police, Murtala Inuwa of the DSS, Najeeb Murtala of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), and aviation security officers Musa Adamu and Salihu Victor — were apprehended following a joint investigation involving the DSS, NIS, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Federal Ministry of Aviation.
According to authorities, the five operatives confessed to accepting bribes in exchange for granting unauthorized access to restricted airport zones, effectively undermining a lawful security operation. They have since been transferred to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for prosecution. Separately, NIS and NCS officers who did not accept bribes but allegedly misused their authority to enable restricted access are expected to face internal disciplinary proceedings.
The arrests stem from a tense standoff that unfolded when El-Rufai landed in Abuja after returning from Cairo, Egypt. His media aide, Muyiwa Adekeye, alleged that operatives approached the former governor immediately after he disembarked, but El-Rufai refused to comply with them, citing the absence of a formal written invitation. Adekeye further alleged that his passport was forcibly taken from an aide during the confrontation.
El-Rufai later confirmed in a television interview that it was the ICPC that had directed the DSS to detain him upon his return. He is currently in ICPC custody after he was initially detained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) following a voluntary appearance. Investigators are probing alleged financial misconduct during his eight-year tenure as Kaduna governor from 2015 to 2023.
The saga has continued to escalate. On February 19, ICPC operatives searched El-Rufai’s Abuja home — a move he has since challenged in court. The search also sparked a separate controversy after authorities claimed to have recovered wiretapping equipment on the premises, an allegation firmly denied by the former governor’s family.
Adding another layer to the unfolding drama, El-Rufai alleged that someone had tapped the phone of National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu, and that he had listened to a conversation in which Ribadu allegedly ordered his arrest. While acknowledging such surveillance would be illegal, El-Rufai claimed that government agencies had been known to conduct such operations without court authorization.
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