A Nigerian woman, Maryam Hussaini-Abdullahi, has been detained by Saudi authorities after a bag suspected to contain marijuana was mistakenly linked to her name upon arrival at Jeddah airport, her husband has revealed.
The 39-year-old Kano native traveled to Saudi Arabia on August 6 with her husband, Abdullahi Baffa, to perform the lesser Hajj. What began as a spiritual journey turned into a crisis when authorities flagged her name to a “Ghana-must-go” sack. The couple claims the mix-up was the result of a mishandled luggage swap by Ethiopian Airlines.
“My wife is innocent,” said Mr. Baffa. “We each checked in only one properly tagged bag from Kano, but upon arrival in Jeddah, our luggage disappeared. Later they found a bag matched to her name, but its tag did not belong to us.” Despite pointing this out, Maryam was detained and taken to the Rihab Center in Makkah, with Nigerian consular officials in attendance.
The airline confirmed an investigation is underway but warned that it may take time due to multiple stations being involved. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Consul-General in Jeddah, Muazam Nayaya, confirmed the matter has been reported and is being actively investigated.
Mr. Baffa stated that those responsible for the luggage mix-up have been arrested and that the Nigerian government has now taken over the case. He appealed for the release of his wife and requested CCTV footage from Kano Airport to clear her name.
This incident echoes a previous case where a Nigerian student, Zainab Aliyu, was wrongfully detained in Saudi Arabia after traffickers planted tramadol in her luggage underscoring continuing concerns over luggage tampering and security at airports.
