A 45-year-old woman who was arrested and incarcerated in connection with a kidnap case has died in custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nasarawa State Command.
Salamatu Adamu, a mother of 2 girls and a boy, who is known to be working in a grain grinding machine in front of her residence, was staying at Tudun Kofa in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital.
Our correspondent gathered that, a little boy in the area, whose detail is not known as at the time of filing this report, was kidnapped, and a man, whose identity is also yet to be known but is believed to still be in the custody of the DSSS, allegedly accused Salamatu of knowing the whereabout of the kidnapped little boy.
According to the man, in a confessional statement to DSSS, claimed that he was in a nearby Mosque meditating, when he saw Salamatu, chased a number of children, who were obstructing her with dust and noise from their play. And that, since the children left the scene on that fateful day to another location to continue with the play, the said little boy was not seen till date, hence, Salamatu was arrested.
The husband of the deceased woman, Musa Shittu Mohammed and his family have, however, appealed to the Director General of the Department of State Security Services, Ahmed Abubakar Bichi, to in the spirit of fairness ensure the perpetrators of this illegal and inhumane acts are brought to book.
According to Mohammed, “we appeal to your good office, as a good citadel of fairness to intervene and order a discrete investigation on the perpetrators of this illegal and inhumane acts and to ensure that justice is served for the peaceful repose of her soul, if not, we will be forced to explore legal arsenal against your establishment without notice,” the husband said through his counsel.
An eyewitness, who don’t want his name in print confided to our correspondent that, Salamatu was said to have been picked by some fierce looking men, dressed in all black, and forcefully dragged the deceased into the Sharon vehicle, where she was asked to kneel in the vehicle, while some of the personnel were busy beating her till they zoomed off.
In a complaint letter written to the Director General of the DSS, National Headquarters, Abuja, dated 17th November, 2023, and signed by Abubakar Abubakar Dogara Esq and 8 other practitioners of A. A. Dogara & Co, a copy which was made available to Elanza News, is seeking justice.
A. A. Dogara & Co, is a Lafia based law firm, engaged by the husband of the deceased, Mallam Musa Shittu Mohammed, to unravel the circumstances surrounding Salamatu dead and to ensure justice prevail.
The letter, which titled: “complaint against the Nasarawa State Office of the Department of State Security Services (DSS), on the unlawful detention and eventual murder of Salamatu Adamu of Tudun Kofa in Lafia, Nasarawa State,” captured how the deceased woman, Salamatu Adamu was arrested, tortured and murdered by personnel of the state command of DSS.
According to the Counsel to the deceased, “it is our client’s firm instruction that on the 7th day of November, 2023, at about 9am, while he was working on his farm land at the Federal University of Lafia in Lafia, Nasarawa State that, he received a distress call from his wife (Salamatu Adamu), who in his considered opinion appeared and/or sounded to have been in some kind of danger and needed his help.
“However, due to the noise from the background, he couldn’t fathom what was happening to her. Our client immediately switched off his call and placed a call across to her, but her number was no longer connected, as the officers of the DSSS had switched off her GSM handset.
“Our client, consequently rushed back home and only to be greeted with the devastating news from his daughter that his wife was picked up by some unknown men in a Sharon vehicle, whom upon further investigations, our client later discovered to be personnel of the Department of State Security Services, serving in Lafia, the Nasarawa State Command.
“Considering how disturbing the incident was, our client immediately swung into action and visited the Nigeria Police Force, Area Command along Jos road, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Lafia Command and all other Divisional Police Headquarters within the state capital, but there was no trace of her from the men that too her away from their residence.
“It was against this backdrop that our client reported the situation to the Madakin Lafia, Alhaji Isiaka Dauda, and the Madakin recommended that he reports the matter to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of “A” division in Lafia.
“It is our client’s further brief that the following day being 8th day of November, 2023, our client then reported the matter to the DPO as recommended by Madakin. Upon the said report, our client together with the DPO then visited the Department of State Security Services at the Lafia and made the same inquiry about his wife, but they were told that the head of operations is not on seat, and they asked out client to drop his contact to enable them reach out to him for a possible appointment with their head of operations, which he gladly did.
“However, towards late hours of the said day, our client got a call from them, asking him to come around tomorrow morning in respect of the case he reported.
“The next day on reaching their office, our client was told that there was no woman in their custody that matches his description; however, he can check her out at the Specialist Hospital, which he did.
“However, on reaching the said Specialist Hospital, our client was also told that, there is no any woman that matches his description of her currently on admission in this hospital, except if our client will have to check the morgue.
“An act which our client manifested, but reluctantly visited the morgue, only to received the shock of his life, upon finding the body of his wife lying lifeless without any explanations of what happened to her, and how his healthy and vibrant wife ended up in a morgue, without any lawful justification.
“Only to be informed that her corpse was deposited by some personnel of the Department of State Security Services.
“Considering the mysterious circumstances surrounding her arrest, unlawful incarcerations and eventual murder, our client and his family are devastated and constrained from taking any legal actions against the perpetrators of these dastardly and heinous acts,” the letter reads.
