Freed Zainab Aliya returns home from Saudi Arabia

Zainab Aliyu with officials of the Nigerian Consulate in Jeddah, shortly after her release from detention.

Nigerian undergraduate, Zainab Aliya, who was freed of drug charges in Saudi Arabia, on Monday returned back to Nigeria.


The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Relations & Diaspora, Abike Dabiri, confirmed her return on her verified Twitter handle.

She tweeted, “Welcome home Zainub Aliya from Saudi. So so excited. Big gratitude to our President @MBuhari for intervening to ensure that an innocent girl was not punished for an offence she did not commit.”

Zainab, a student of Maitama Sule University, Kano, was arrested after a banned drug, Tramadol, was found in her bag. She claimed it was planted in her luggage by unknown persons.