The federal government has secured the release of Zainab Aliyu, who was arrested in Saudi Arabia for alleged drug trafficking.

This was announced by the Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on New Media, Bashir Ahmad on his Twitter page on Tuesday.

Zainab 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  agency, NDLEA, said Ms Aliyu was a victim of a drug cartel at the Aminu Kano Airport in Kano.

Some members of the cartel have reportedly been arrested.