Muslim Rights Group Demands DSS Comply with Court Order to Release Abducted Minor
A leading Muslim rights organisation has called on Nigeria’s Department of State Services (DSS) to immediately release a minor, Walida Abdulhadi, following a court order for her reunification with her family.
The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) issued the demand in a statement from its Kano State Chairman, Malam Hassan Sani Indabawa. The statement asserts that the minor remains in the DSS’s “protective custody” in Abuja, despite a directive from a high court.
The court order, dated January 7, 2026, explicitly instructed the DSS to “immediately release/reunite the victim (Walida Abdulhadi) to her parents.” The same order also mandated the arrest of Mr. Ifeanyi Festus, a DSS operative, by police or security authorities.
MURIC’s statement highlights Nigeria’s legal framework, noting that under the Child Rights Act, any individual under 18 is classified as a minor. The Act prescribes a ten-year sentence for child abduction from lawful custody and a maximum life sentence
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