DSS Detains POS Operator For Three Years Without Trial As Family Calls For Help

More than three years after Nura Alhaji Tijjani's arrest by the Department of State Services (DSS), his family from Kabuga Tudun Yola, Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State, is still lamenting the extended detention of their breadwinner.

The family are seeking that he should be released or at least tried in court, as they also claim that they do not know the charges against him.

Before his arrest, he operated as a POS operator along BUK Road and was arrested alongside his shop attendant, Nasiru Abdullahi Abdulhamid, on July 13, 2021, around 6 PM, and has since been held in detention.

According to Daily Trust, it was also gathered that on 13 January, 2023, the suspects were transferred to a military base in Wawa, Niger State, as evidenced by a copy of the transfer form seen by our correspondent.

Tijjani’s wife, Binta Mukhtar, who is a mother of eight, stated that surviving has been hard since since her husband’s arrest.

The family also appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, and all relevant authorities to intervene in their plight.

“My husband was arrested three years ago by DSS operatives. I remember vividly that day; they arrived with about 15 vehicles, beat up his family members and friends, and took him away.

“Since then, my children have stopped going to school. They face public rejection among their peers and in school. We still don’t know why he was arrested. What crime did he commit? We have no answers,” she lamented.

"Our lives have been turned upside down. I am now facing serious health challenges due to stress and uncertainty. Our house has been sold, and we are on the brink of destitution. Please, do not make my children orphans like me,” she pleaded tearfully.

The mother of the accused, Sadiya Saleh, echoed similar sentiments, highlighting their desperate situation and the exploitation they faced from individuals promising to help secure her son’s release.

“We are suffering. People who promised to help us have taken advantage of our desperation. We have sold everything we owned, given large sums of money-N4 million, N2 million, N1 million-to various individuals claiming they could assist, but nothing has come of it. We feel abandoned,” she said.