The order was issued by the Magistrate Court of Jigawa State sitting in Hadejia, presided over by His Worship, Sadisu Musa Esq., in Suit No: DCC/01/2026, between Abdulhadi Ibrahim and Ifeanyi Festus.
A Magistrate Court in Jigawa State has ordered the arrest of a serving officer of Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) over allegations of child abduction, sexual exploitation, unlawful detention, and forcible religious conversion involving a 16-year-old girl.
The order was issued by the Magistrate Court of Jigawa State sitting in Hadejia, presided over by His Worship, Sadisu Musa Esq., in Suit No: DCC/01/2026, between Abdulhadi Ibrahim and Ifeanyi Festus.
In the court order dated January 7, 2026, the magistrate directed the Commissioner of Police, Jigawa State Command, or senior officials of the DSS, to arrest the respondent, Ifeanyi Festus, and discreetly investigate the alleged offences pursuant to Sections 125 and 102(5) of the Jigawa State Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL).
The court further ordered the DSS to immediately release and reunite the alleged victim, Walida Abdulhadi, with her parents.
The court order which has gone viral on social media on Friday, and seen by SaharaReporters partly read: "Upon hearing Mr. Kabiru Adamu Esq. appearing with Babangida Garba Esq Counsel to the Applicant moving this Court praying for an order of this Court for the Arrest of the Defendant and Investigation of the alleged offences by the Commissioner of Police Jigawa State Police Command Pursuant to Section 125 of the ACJL and 102(5) of the same Law.”
The court ordered that “the defendant be arrested by the Commissioner of Police Jigawa State Police Command or Deputy Director General of the Department of State Security Services and/or any officer under them
"That the Commissioner of Police Nigerian Police Force Jigawa State Command is HEREBY ORDERED to discreetly investigate this case.
"That the Department of State Security Service Shall immediately release/reunite the Victim (WALIDA ABDULHADI) to her parent."
Background
The court action followed a petition dated January 4, 2026, written by Abuja-based law firm, Gamji Lawchain, to the Director-General of the DSS on behalf of Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim and his family.
The petition accuses Festus, identified as a serving DSS officer, of abducting Walida Abdulhadi from Hadejia, Jigawa State, over two years ago when she was allegedly just 16 years old.
According to the petition signed by Hussaini Sani, L.P., Walida was a minor at the time of her disappearance and therefore legally incapable of consenting to any sexual relationship under Nigerian law
The family reportedly searched for the girl for more than two years without success. The petition claims the prolonged emotional trauma contributed directly to the death of Walida’s mother.
“The anxiety, fear, and emotional devastation of losing their underaged daughter slowly destroyed the mother, who eventually died as a direct consequence of the psychological trauma,” the petition stated.
The family’s ordeal reportedly took a dramatic turn on January 1, 2026, when Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim received a phone call from a man who identified himself as Ifeanyi Festus, a DSS officer.
With what the lawyer described as “chilling casualness,” Festus allegedly informed the father that Walida had been with him all along, had given birth to his child, and that he was now “ready to marry her.
Due to age and ill health, the father sent a representative, Muhammad Badamasi Ibrahim, to Abuja. What followed, the petition claims, was even more disturbing.
The representative was reportedly taken to a DSS facility at Karmajiji, along Airport Road, Abuja, where he was informed that Walida had been living inside the DSS estate throughout her disappearance
When the family demanded her release, the request was allegedly refused.
“She was denied access, effectively held under institutional protection, beyond the reach of her own father,” the petition alleges.
The legal counsel further claimed that while under this custody, Walida was allegedly 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.
Gamji Lawchain argued that the alleged crimes could not have occurred without the knowledge or tacit approval of other officers.
“This crime was not committed in hiding, but within a DSS Estate, with the knowledge of other officers, who either actively shielded or deliberately ignored the atrocity,” the petition stated. “This transforms the matter from individual misconduct into institutional complicity.”
The petition describes the allegations as “moral bankruptcy in uniform” and warns that failure to act decisively would erode public trust in state institutions.
“If this matter is treated casually or quietly buried, it will announce to Nigerians that state power can be used to steal children, silence families, and escape justice,” the lawyers warned.
The family, therefore, demanded, among other things, the immediate suspension, arrest, and prosecution of the DSS officer; an independent investigation into the Karmajiji DSS facility; the immediate release and protection of Walida and her child; and disciplinary action against any DSS personnel found complicit.