ABIKE Dabiri-Erewa, Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on International Relations and the Diaspora, has assured that three Nigerians who are being detained in Saudi Arabia for drug-related offences would be released.

This is following emerging revelations that the trio could be innocent of the offence.

There have been reports about the existence of a drug cartel operating across international airports in Nigeria who specialise in planting hard drugs in passengers’ luggage without their knowledge.

The most recent case is that of Zainab Aliyu, said to be an undergraduate of Maitama Sule University, Kano, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia where she had gone on Hajj Pilgrimage. According to reports, a suitcase that has Zainab’s name on it was found to be filled with Tramadol, an illegal drug.

Zainab was subsequently arrested as all her explanations that she was not the owner of the luggage fell on deaf ears.

All through Monday, the hashtag #FreeZainabAliyu has been trending on social media in Nigeria, especially Twitter, drawing the attention of members of both the executive and legislative arms of government.

In response, Bashir Ahmed, a personal assistant to President Buhari on new media, wrote that the President is already aware of the situation and has directed the necessary officials to act accordingly.

President Buhari  has since directed the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to take all the necessary action to ensure Zainab Aliyu’s release and her safe return to Nigeria,” Ahmed tweeted.

Abike Dabiri also confirmed the development and added that the government was also working for the release of two other Nigerians being held in Saudi Arabia aside from Zainab Aliyu.

“We have been on this in the last two weeks. Buhari has directed the AGF to take necessary action. We are making good progress. She will be back, along with 2 others in the same situation,” she wrote.

Also, Shehu Sani, the Senator representing Kaduna Central, asked Aliyu’s parents to forward a petition to the upper legislative chamber for expedited action to secure her release.

He wrote: “If the Parents of Zainab Habibu Aliyu, the Nigerian girl in detention in Saudi Arabia can immediately send a petition to NASS stating her case and innocence, we can move action to highlight her case and demand for urgent action to secure her freedom.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), whose investigations led to the discovering of the drug syndicate, has promised to adopt stricter security measures in airports to check the menace of airport officials aiding drug peddlers and planting drugs on innocent passengers.

One of those measures includes requiring airlines to issue passengers with a form in which they would declare how many documents they were travelling with and what they contain.

A Nigerian lady, Kudirat Adesola Afolabi, was recently executed in Saudi Arabia after she was found guilty of drug trafficking.

Afolabi’s execution, in spite of her innocence, was due to an alleged delay by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inform the Saudi authorities of an investigation which had established that she was not the owner of the luggage tagged in her name in which the drugs were said to have been discovered.