![Zainab Aliyu with officials of the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah, shortly after her release from prison. [Photo: MFA / @Naslawal]](https://i1.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2019/04/Zainab-Aliyu-1.jpg?fit=638%2C638&ssl=1)
The federal government has secured the release of Zainab Aliyu, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia for alleged drug trafficking.
The Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad, announced this on his Twitter page on Tuesday.
Mr Ahmad said the ministry of foreign affairs will brief Nigerians on the development.
The Federal Government has secured the release of Zainab Habibu Aliyu who was arrested in Saudi Arabia for alleged drug trafficking. Details soon from Ministry of Foreign Affairs. #FreeZainab
— Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) April 30, 2019
On Monday, a presidential aide said President Buhari had directed Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation, to intervene in the case of Ms Aliyu.
Ms Aliyu is a Nigerian student who was detained in Saudi Arabia after hard drugs were found in a bag labelled in her name at a Saudi airport.
The Nigerian government, through the drug-enforcement the agency, NDLEA, said Ms Aliyu was a victim of a drug cartel at the Aminu Kano airport in Kano.
The cartel reportedly specialises in placing hard drugs in bags owned by travellers while on their way to their destination countries.
Some members of the cartel have reportedly been arrested.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora matters, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had disclosed Mr Buhari’s directive in a statement made available to PREMIUM TIMES by her media aide, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Monday.
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![A medical official performs a throat swab on a resident of Mabushi in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory Abuja as part of the community testing for COVID-19… on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. [Photo: Sodiq Adelakun/Channels TV]](https://i2.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2021/01/covid.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
![President Muhammadu Buhari leaving for London, the United Kingdom, for a routine medical check-up [PHOTO CREIDT: @BashirAhmaad]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2021/03/ExvBEHwWgAE7Q8n-e1617134781145.jpg?resize=120%2C86&ssl=1)
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