Aisha Buhari calls for stiffer punishment for drug traffickers

The wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, has called for the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of drug trafficking, which led to the detention of Zainab Aliyu in Saudi Arabia.

Mrs Buhari made the call on Monday when the victim of the drug trafficking conspiracy, Zainab Aliyu, was led to the Presidential Villa by her parents to break the Ramadan fast with her.

Recall that Zainab Aliyu, who was travelling to Saudi Arabia from the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, had drugs planted on her by drug cartels operating at the airport. She was arrested by the Saudi Arabia authorities, for possession of banned substance.

However, Zainab was released after she was found innocent of the offence by the Saudi authorities, following the intervention of the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari.

The wife of the President, therefore, called on intending air travellers to be mindful and careful to avoid falling victims.

While fielding questions from State House Correspondents, the victim Miss Zainab Aliyu, called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that those engaged in the act were prosecuted according to laid down procedure.

“I want to thank the wife of the President for inviting us to break our fast with her and Nigerians for their prayers and efforts to ensure my release.

“Though, I feel very bad that the cartel, who masterminded this act (to me) was granted bail. They have to be punished for what they did to me to serve as a deterrent to others.

“I’m not the only innocent person that fell victim, there were many innocent persons who fell victims of this illicit drugs traffickers.

“So, I will like to call on Nigerian authorities to punish the cartel,” she said.

On her part, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, expressed her appreciation to the wife of the President for hosting the family to iftar.

Also speaking, Mr Habibu Aliyu, the father of the victim, thanked Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari for facilitating the release of Zainab Aliyu from Saudi Arabian Prison.

“Personally, since we started the struggle, I did not spend money throughout the period, so I thank everybody who contributed to the release of my daughter.

“I feel sad that the cartel, who perpetrated this act was granted bail. They even undermined the government because as I speak to you one of them was allowed to perform lesser hajj and he returned to Nigeria.

“Yes, the offence is bailable but there are stringent conditions that should be attached to serve as a deterrent.

” And to my surprise, the perpetrators have not shown any remorse for committing the act, for day one. One of them knelt down and held my leg saying that she was doing it for a living.

“So, you can imagine she’s living at the detriment of someone’s life,” he said.

(NAN)