THE State Security Service (SSS) has arrested one of its staff members, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, for allegedly abducting and defiling a 16-year-old girl Walida Abdulhadi, and forcing her to convert to Christianity in Abuja.
This was revealed in a statement issued on Friday, January 9, by the SSS Director of Public Relations and Strategic Communications, Favour Dozie, who confirmed the arrest of SSS officer named Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi in connection with Walida’s ordeal.
“The attention of the State Security Service has been drawn to reports alleging involvement of a staff member 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,” he said.
According to Dozie, the officer is being investigated over the alleged forceful conversion and marriage of Walida, and the investigation is currently in progress.
“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,” the statement said.
The SSS spokesperson disclosed that the alleged actions are contrary to the agency’s regulations and code of conduct, and confirmed that the investigation’s findings would be disclosed publicly.
According to media reports, the development followed a petition dated January 4, written by an Abuja-based law firm, Gamji Lawchain and addressed to the SSS Director-General on behalf of the girl’s father, Alhaji Abdulhadi Ibrahim, and his family. The law firm, in the petition, accused the SSS officer of abducting the teenager from the Hadejia area of Jigawa State when she was allegedly just 16 years old.
“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,” it read.
The law firm argued that because Walida was a minor at the time of her disappearance, Nigerian law deems her legally incapable of consenting to any sexual relationship.
The petition explained that the family’s unsuccessful search for more than two years subjected them to prolonged emotional trauma, which reportedly contributed to the death of Walida’s mother.
According to the petition, the case took a dramatic turn on January 1 after the SSS officer reportedly called the girl’s father to say she had been living with him, had given birth to his child, and that he was “ready to marry her.”
The petition said that due to age and ill health, the father sent Muhammad Badamasi Ibrahim to a SSS facility in Abuja, where he was allegedly informed that Walida had been living in a SSS residence throughout the time she was missing and demanded the girl’s release. The request had reportedly been refused.
The counsel 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, while she was still a minor.
Calling the allegations “moral bankruptcy in uniform,” the law firm warned that failure to act could undermine public confidence in state institutions and demanded the SSS officer’s immediate suspension, arrest, and prosecution, as well as an independent investigation into the Karmajiji SSS facility.
The firm also sought the release and protection of Walida and her child, alongside disciplinary action against any SSS personnel found to have been complicit.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.