Arewa youths on Monday warned against what it described as the “undue interference and politicisation” of the case of a woman believed to have been living with a staff of the Department of State Services without the consent of her parents.
This was as the Arewa group particularly commended the DSS for living up to its constitutional mandate of protecting Walida, stressing that Agency acted without fear or favour and also commended the DSS for transparency in the joint investigative which the secret police had periodically briefed the public through its official website dss.gov.ng.
The group specifically noted that the decisions of the joint investigative committee were jointly agreed upon.
The woman, Walida Abdulhadi Ibrahim, who is at the centre of the controversy, following allegations and counter claims of abduction and forced marriage to a DSS official, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, claims that she is 22 years old, but her parents said she disappeared at the age of 16years.
The parents of Walida also alleged that she was converted from Islam into Christianity and now has a child with the DSS operative, a move that has drawn the ire of her parents and relatives.
However, apparently afraid of the fate that could befall Walida should she return, the DSS has been keeping her under what it called “protective custody,” which hasn’t settled well with some Muslim groups and other interested parties.
But, taking a critical look at the case, the Arewa Youth Assembly, a northern influence group, specifically advised those dabbling into the matter to respect Walida’s fundamental human rights.
Speaker of Arewa Youth Assembly, Mohammed Salihu Danlami, who gave the advice at a Media briefing in Abuja on Monday, emphasised that it was wrong for interested parties to dabble into a purely personal issue that involves a woman and a man, who now have a young daughter in their relationship.
Danlami expressed surprise and noted that interested parties were out to ruin the relationship between Walida and Ifeanyi after the two had been blessed with a daughter.
The youths group said its members found it disturbing that some groups were interested in taking over the duties of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and the Social Welfare of the Ministry of Women Affairs, which had been duly notified of the matter and had launched joint investigations comprising FIDA, notable CSOs (NYCN, AYA) as well as a member of Peace Building Agency of Nigeria.
The group further expressed surprise that the other groups weren’t interested in how Walida was lured from her home, saying the syndicate may have lured many more young girls from the north.
Danlami said that as an agency that does not tolerate indiscipline as shown in the recent dismissal of no fewer than 115 staff for various offences, the DSS has shown itself to be above board.
AYA pointed out that since it had been established that Walida and her father had been communicating even under DSS protective custody, third parties should stop undue interference in the matter.
“It has been established that Walida made the first call to her father. The father and the daughter have been conversing, which is why the father requested her medical evaluation to ascertain her psychological state of mind,” Danlami declared.
