The Department of State Services (DSS), has arrested one of its active personnel, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, for allegedly abducting, defiling, and forcefully converting a 16-year-old girl, Walida Abdulhadi, to Christianity.
In a statement issued on Friday, the DSS Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, said Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi is currently being investigated over the case.
“The attention of the Department of State Services has been drawn to reports alleging involvement of a staff of DSS, one Ifeanyi Festus, in a case of abduction, defilement of a minor, and abuse of office, among other offences.
“For clarity, the Service has no record of the above-named in its employment.
“However, it is hereby confirmed that an active staff, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, who is suspected to have forcefully converted and married one Walida Abdulhadi ‘f’, has been arrested and is currently being investigated.
“It must be stressed that, such acts are against our regulations and laid down code of conduct. As such, outcome of the investigation will be made public, please,” the DSS spokesperson said in the statement.
Dateline Nigeria reports that the arrest of Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi followed a petition dated January 4, written by an Abuja-based law firm, Gamji Lawchain.
In the petition addressed to the DSS Director-General on behalf of the girl’s father, Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim, and his family, the law firm accused the DSS officer of abducting the teenager from the Hadejia area of Jigawa State when she was allegedly just 16 years old.
The law firm said Walida was a minor at the time of her disappearance and was therefore legally incapable of consenting to any sexual relationship under Nigerian law.
According to the petition, the family reportedly searched for the girl for more than two years without success, with the prolonged emotional trauma said to have contributed to the death of her mother.
“The anxiety, fear, and emotional devastation of losing their underage daughter slowly destroyed the mother, who eventually died as a direct consequence of the psychological trauma,” the petition stated.
However, the petition noted a dramatic twist on January 1 when the DSS officer reportedly called the girl’s father, informing the family that their daughter had been with him all along, had given birth to a child, and that he was “ready to marry her.”
It further stated that due to age and ill health, the father sent a representative, Muhammad Badamasi Ibrahim, to a DSS facility in Abuja, where he was allegedly informed that Walida had been living inside a DSS residence throughout the period of her disappearance.
Lawchain claimed that when the family demanded the girl’s release, the request was allegedly refused.
The counsel further alleged that while under the suspect’s custody, Walida was converted from Islam to Christianity without her parents’ consent and subjected to sexual exploitation that resulted in pregnancy and childbirth, all while she was still a minor.
It described the allegations as “moral bankruptcy in uniform” and warned that failure to act decisively could erode public trust in state institutions.
The law firm demanded the immediate suspension, arrest, and prosecution of the DSS officer, as well as an independent investigation into the Karmajiji DSS facility.
It also demanded the release and protection of Walida and her child, and disciplinary action against any DSS personnel found complicit.
Meanwhile, giving an update on the case, a legal practitioner Hussain Muhammad he visited the National Headquarters of the DSS in Abuja and expressed satisfaction with the way the security agency is handling the case.
“We have been assured by the DSS officials that they are ready to follow court’s directives on the matter. We have since filed a case before a court in Hadejia, Jigawa State, and the court has ordered the arrest and arraignment of the suspect to face the charges against him,” the lawyer said.
