The allegations are contained in a petition dated January 4, 2026, addressed to the Director-General of the DSS by an Abuja-based law firm, Gamji Lawchain, on behalf of Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim and his family.
A serving officer of Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services (DSS), has been accused of abducting and sexually exploiting a minor, unlawfully detaining her for over two years within a DSS estate, forcibly converting her religion, and committing acts that allegedly led to the death of the girl’s mother.
The allegations are contained in a petition dated January 4, 2026, addressed to the Director-General of the DSS by an Abuja-based law firm, Gamji Lawchain, on behalf of Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim and his family.
The petition names Ifeanyi Festus, identified as a serving DSS officer, as the alleged perpetrator
According to the petition signed by Hussaini Sani, L.P., the victim, Walida Abdulhadi, was only 16 years old when she disappeared from her hometown in Hadeja, Jigawa State, two years and two months ago.
“At the time of her disappearance, she was sixteen (16) years old, a minor, legally incapable of consent under Nigerian law,” the petition stated.
The family reportedly searched for Walida for over two years, a period described as one of “relentless pain, anxiety and despair.”
The prolonged trauma allegedly took a fatal toll on 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 reads. “A mother is dead today because her child was taken and hidden from her.”
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, however, is demanding, among other things, the immediate suspension, arrest, and prosecution of the officer named; 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.
“A child was stolen. A mother is dead. A family’s peace has been annihilated,” the petition concludes.
Copies of the petition were also sent to the Nigerian President and the Officer-in-Charge of the DSS facility in Karmajiji.