Operatives of the Department of State Services arrested Uche Nnaji, Nigeria's former Minister of Science and Technology, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu. Security agents moved in on the former minister at the airport terminal and took him into custody before later handing him over to another agency.
According to the account of the operation, Nnaji was intercepted as he was attempting to board a private jet bound for Abuja. The interception at the departure point brought his planned trip to an abrupt halt and placed him directly in the hands of the security services, who then coordinated the next stage of the process.
After the arrest, the DSS handed the former minister over to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, the ICPC. The transfer signalled that the case had moved into the remit of the anti-graft agency, which had been seeking to bring him in for questioning over a pending matter.
The arrest is connected to allegations of certificate forgery that have trailed the former minister. The ICPC had reportedly extended several invitations to Nnaji as part of its inquiry, and turned to the security services to help secure his attendance after those efforts did not produce the desired outcome.
At the centre of the investigation are questions over his academic and national-service credentials. The matter touches on a degree certificate said to be from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and a National Youth Service Corps discharge certificate, documents that were submitted during his ministerial screening process in 2023.
The move followed a directive from a Federal High Court instructing the commission to arrest the former minister so that the investigation into the alleged forgery of the credentials could proceed. The court order provided the legal basis for the operation carried out at the Enugu airport.
Nnaji had stepped down from his position as minister in October 2025, amid the controversy surrounding the authenticity of his certificates. His arrest at the airport now brings the long-running dispute over those documents into a formal legal phase, with the ICPC set to take the case forward.