A Nigerian woman, Maryam Hussaini-Abdullahi, is still languishing in Saudi custody after her name was allegedly tied to a “Ghana Must Go” sack stuffed with marijuana, a bag her husband insists was planted by Ethiopian Airlines staff and baggage handlers.
Maryam, a mother of young children, was arrested on arrival in Jeddah on August 7 and reportedly chained hand and foot while being interrogated by Saudi officials.
Her husband, Abdullahi Baffa, who spoke newsmen, said the suspicious bag was fraudulently linked to his wife’s luggage despite glaring inconsistencies in the tag numbers.
“The airline confessed that baggage was added to her name. Video evidence even shows the suspect who committed the crime,” Baffa revealed.
“But security agencies asked me not to release the footage yet. The suspects, handlers and Ethiopian Airlines staff, are already with the authorities in Nigeria.”
Baffa, who described the ordeal as “criminal negligence,” said both he and Maryam travelled with just one bag each, only to discover their luggage missing upon arrival in Saudi Arabia.
Despite proof that the impounded sack did not match Maryam’s baggage tags, Saudi security still detained her at the Rihab Centre in Makkah, subjecting her to days of harsh treatment.
Baffa lamented that their children were left behind in Nigeria, stranded without their mother.
He accused Ethiopian Airlines of “unholy conduct” and demanded justice, stressing that the Nigerian Government had now stepped in.
When contacted, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd.), Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media at the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), both said they were not aware of the case as of press time.
Ethiopian Airlines staff implicated as nigerian woman detained in Saudi over drug-laden bag
