Court orders DSS to free Jigawa teen, hand over operative to police

A Federal High Court in Dutse, Jigawa State, has ordered the Department of State Services to unconditionally release a 16-year-old girl allegedly abducted and sexually abused by one of its operatives, and to surrender the suspect to the police for investigation.

Justice Hassan Dikko, delivering judgment on Tuesday, directed the DSS to release Walida Abdulhadi and produce its operative, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, to the Jigawa State Police Command for a thorough investigation.

Abdulhadi, a resident of Hadejia Local Government Area, was allegedly abducted and sexually abused by Onyewuenyi in 2023.

She has since given birth to a baby girl while in the suspect’s custody.

The case has attracted widespread attention since it became public.

Justice Dikko condemned the DSS for allegedly shielding the operative accused of committing what he described as a “heinous act.”

The court also set aside any internal investigation the DSS claimed to be conducting on its officer, ruling that the secret service lacked legal authority under the National Security Agency Act to probe its own personnel in criminal matters.

“The conduct of the DSS in hiding and shielding an officer accused of this terrible crime is condemnable,” the judge declared, stressing that only the police and the courts have jurisdiction over criminal allegations of this nature.

The Federal High Court had adjourned judgment to Monday on March 26 after hearing arguments from both prosecution and defence counsel, before delivering its verdict on Tuesday.

Reacting to the ruling, the family’s lawyer, Kabiru Adamu, described the judgment as a vindication of the judiciary.

“We welcome this judgment because it has confirmed that the court remains the last hope of the common man,” he said, adding that the verdict would ensure justice and due process in line with the law.

He called on the police to act swiftly once the operative is handed over, to guarantee a transparent and speedy investigation.

Efforts to reach the DSS’s defence counsel for comment after the verdict were unsuccessful.

The ruling comes after the Hadejia Magistrate Court had earlier ordered the DSS to release Abdulhadi to her parents and hand Onyewuenyi over to the Jigawa State Commissioner of Police for investigation.

The DSS had challenged that order by filing a suit at the Federal High Court, seeking to block its execution.