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13 Months After Abduction, Family Of 13-Year-Old Abducted Student Live In Pain, Hope

Published

4 years ago

September 3, 2022

Treasure Ayubaa and his mother, Janet Peter

What we miss about him
‘Student hypnotised, unwilling to return home’
It’s untrue, we believe he’s willing to come back – Family

For Mary Peter, Treasure Ayuba, is not just a grandson. She said, “He is my blood and flesh. His mother only gave birth to him, but I am his everything. He and I had a strong bond even before he was born.”

For this reason, when her sleep was interrupted around 2am on July 5, 2021 to be told that the young Ayuba, who had just turned 12 three days earlier, was abducted from his school dormitory, Mrs Peter broke into tears.

“I rushed to wake his mother up and the rest of the people in the house. We spent the rest of the night crying and praying before we rushed out to the school at dawn,” she recalled the moment in an interview with Daily Trust Saturday in the family’s small bungalow in Kaduna’s suburb of Mahuta.

Her grandson was among the 121 students abducted from the Bethel Baptist High School, located at Maraban Damishi in Chikun Local Government of Kaduna State last year.

During the overnight raid, which was allegedly masterminded by a bandit kingpin in the area, Tukur Sharme, two military personnel on guard duty at the school – Private Salisu Rabiu and Ordinary Seaman Bilal Mohammed – were killed.

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Ayuba was a new student enrolled into the school to begin his journey for secondary education. The school was chosen because his mother – who finished from the school – believed it would be a good place for moral and educational development of her child. She had no premonition that the boy’s journey in her alma mater would be short and end in tragedy.

For the family, Ayuba’s abduction was a reincarnation of a recent tragedy. Four months earlier, Ayuba’s aunt, Jennifer Peter, was kidnapped from the Federal School of Forestry, Afaka, when gunmen attacked the school on March 5, 2021. She was to stay in captivity for two months before she regained her freedom after much furore and negotiations. Mrs Peter participated in the many protests by parents of the kidnapped students, demanding for rescue of their children. Eventually, Jennifer was released.

Mrs Mary Peter, Ayuba’s grandmother

“The trauma of her abduction was still with us when this news came. She was kidnapped from school three weeks after her sister, Treasure’s mother, had sustained fracture from an accident. We were not yet out of the shock when this (Ayuba’s abduction) took place.

“She (Jennifer) was the worst hit by that news because she had experienced it. She knew what she went through. She told us that her concern was not the time he would spend with the abductors but the suffering they would go through trekking to the camps. She is still living with the trauma of her own experience,” Mrs Peter said.

For the family, it is the beginning of another chapter of agony, which they had no premonition it could drag this long.

Mrs Peter, who was widowed a year earlier, led the rest of the family to join families of the other abducted students in the quest to bring back Ayuba and his mates.

The fight for freedom

The fight was manifold. The parents deployed everything to see to the freedom of their children – talking to the state government and relevant security agencies and protesting, sometimes under the rains to draw attention to the plight of their children. They also opened negotiation with the abductors when it appeared that no result was forthcoming from official quarters.

Through a tortuous negotiation and ransom payment, 120 students were released piecemeal over the course of six months. The last freed student, Daily Trust Saturday learnt, was the one released on January 1, 2022.

With every news of freed students, the family of Treasure Ayuba would rush to see if the young boy they adore was lucky to be out of the kidnappers’ den. They always came back in disappointment.

Despite promises and receiving payments, Ayuba has remained with his abductors, to the anguish of the family.

“At another time, my son-in-law volunteered, along with his friend, to go and deliver the ransom. The two of them were held by the kidnappers. They demanded that I pay ransom to before they would release them. They said they knew I had grains, that I should sell and give them the money. What do I do when my in-law and someone else’s children are held captive? I had to sell other things and add to what his family raised. My brother and I went to pay and get them out,” she said.

The family had joined others in prayer crusade for divine intervention. With the school authority and local leadership of the Christian community in the area, parents and other well-wishers engaged in spirited rounds of supplications for months.

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Gradually, with more and more victims freed, the prayer group thinned out. Mrs Peter and only a handful of close family members remained consistent.

“I had to call off the prayer sessions because it turned out that only the old man leading the prayers remained with us. His mother was also becoming emotionally drained; every time we went there she would come back depressed. The father is old and sick, so at the end, it was only I and few others, so I asked them to suspend the sessions,” she said.

Beyond the communal prayer sessions, Mrs Peter said she had travelled to many places of worship for special devotions in her quest to get her grandson back.

‘What we miss about him’

In the 13 months since Ayuba’s abduction, the family holds on tight to his memories, signified by his last picture before the incident.

For his mother, Janet Peter, the photo of young Ayuba, snapped on July 3, 2021, a day after his 12th birthday, evokes a strong emotion. That day, she and other members of the family had gone to visit the boy and deliver a cake specially made to commemorate his birthday.

Looking at the photo, which shows Ayuba in his school uniform holding the cake, sets tears rolling down the cheeks of his mother; yet, it is the closest she had been to him in over a year.

Ms Peter said she had fond memories of her son, who she described as her look-alike.

Beyond that, he was a caring son in spite of his young age as he assisted the mother with laundry and dry-cleaning while she was nursing her broken leg.

“When I saw him ironing my cloths I would ask: Why bother when I am not going out in the cloth? But he would say he just wanted me to look good, even while at home.

“Treasure is someone who really cared about everybody in this house, especially my mum. She is not finding it easy,” Ms Peter said in tears.

As disclosed by her daughter, Mrs Janet confessed to having a rough time since the event of July 5, 2021. For her, Ayuba was a “helper” who showed responsibility beyond his age. “He is not just a boy. If you know the meaning of his name, Treasure, you would find him fitting of the name.”

Despite the passing days and months, Ms Peter holds on to a wish for another opportunity to see her son.

‘Student hypnotised, unwilling to return home’

Daily Trust Saturday gathered that there are fears that Ayuba was hypnotised by his captors and indoctrinated him into their wayward lifestyle.

Sources involved with negotiations for his release said the boy may have been influenced by the abductors, making him unwilling to return home.

“During the early days of the abduction, the leader of the kidnappers told the go-between that he liked the boy because of his courage and would want to keep him. We thought they were joking, but they are making that threat real,” a source who didn’t want to be named said.

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The proprietor of the Bethel Baptist High School, who is also the president of the Kaduna Baptist Conference, The Rev Ishaya Adamu, confirmed the “reluctance” of the teenager to return home, but said it was not the only reason Ayuba is still with the abductors.

“I am looking for money to go and bring the boy,” he said, explaining that “part of it is the issue of money, but the boy in question has been reluctant to come back home. We have paid money and we sent someone to go and bring the boy, but he was reluctant. But we are still discussing with them. They are expecting us to bring money. They need serious money, but we don’t have it,” he said.

Asked if the boy was acting on his own or being restrained by his captors, Adamu said, “I am not sure this boy can take a decision on his own now. Whatever he is doing there must be influence.”

It’s untrue, we believe he’s willing to come back – Family

But the family of the teenager said it was unbelievable that the boy would choose the criminals holding him over them.

“I don’t believe what they are saying. It is impossible for a 12-year-old who was forcefully taken away. He did not leave to go and join the bandits on his own. People are insinuating different things instead of helping us with prayers.

“Those who spread falsehood and slander us and the little kid instead of helping us with prayer will be shamed. I have a firm belief that the boy would be back and the truth would be known

Mrs Peter expressed anger over what she described as twisted narratives and conspiracy, which she said were generating stigma for them.

Despite many broken promises by the abductors, the family said they would not give up in the fight to get Treasure Ayuba back home.

Daily Trust

Related Topics:abduction family Hope Pain student

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EFCC to Arraign US-Blacklisted Lagos BDC Operator Over Alleged ISIS Financing

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EFCC to Arraign US-Blacklisted Lagos BDC Operator Over Alleged ISIS Financing

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is set to arraign a Lagos-based Bureau De Change operator, Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, over alleged terrorism financing linked to the Islamic State, sources within the anti-graft agency have disclosed. According to senior EFCC officials familiar with the investigation, the commission had already concluded significant aspects of its probe and was preparing criminal charges against the suspect when the United States government announced sanctions against him over alleged links to ISIS. “We investigated these individuals and the BDC companies for terrorism financing and were preparing charges against them when the U.S. indicted them,” a source familiar with the investigation told The PUNCH.

The development follows the designation of Muhammad and three Nigerian companies by the United States as alleged financial facilitators for ISIS operations. The sanctions formed part of a broader action targeting three individuals and six entities accused of facilitating the movement of funds for ISIS activities across several countries, including France, Syria, Türkiye and Nigeria. In a statement issued on Monday, U.S. Department of State spokesperson Thomas Pigott said the Nigerian national named in the sanctions is Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad, also known as Mukhtar Muhammad, a Bureau De Change operator based in Lagos State. According to U.S. authorities, Muhammad and the affected companies acted as financial conduits for the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) by facilitating the movement of funds on behalf of the terrorist organisation. The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control alleged that the firms were owned, controlled or directed by Muhammad and used to move funds for ISWAP. The sanctions freeze any assets or interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction and generally prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with them.

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The Nigerian firms linked to Muhammad and named in the sanctions include Generation Currency Bureau De Change Limited, which is Lagos-based; Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau De Change Limited, also Lagos-based; and Manhattan Bureau De Change Limited, which is Kano-based. Authorities in the United States accused the Lagos-based BDC operator of helping move funds linked to the Islamic State’s West African network through financial channels operating in Nigeria. According to OFAC, Mr Muhammad operated from Lagos and played a significant role in ISWAP’s financial network by transferring money through the three BDC firms, enabling the movement of funds that supported the group’s operations.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Sanctions Committee has welcomed the decision by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control to blacklist Muhammad, Nine to Nine Bureau De Change, and Generation BDC Limited over alleged links to terrorism financing. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the committee disclosed that the U.S. action followed Nigeria’s earlier designation of the individuals and entities under the Nigeria Sanctions List on June 18, 2026. According to the committee, the sanctions were based on extensive intelligence gathering, financial investigations and inter-agency assessments which established reasonable grounds to believe the affected individuals and entities facilitated, financed or otherwise supported the activities of ISWAP and affiliated terrorist networks. “These designations follow the inclusion of Adamu and his companies as part of a broader update to the Nigeria Sanctions List approved and published on June 18, 2026,” the committee stated.

The committee listed the sanctioned individuals as Ibrahim Yakubu Ogirima (NLISWi.19), Muktar Muhammad Adamu (NLISWi.20), Adamu Chiroma (NLISWi.21), Ibrahim Abubakar (NLISWi.22), Abdullahi Umar Usman (NLISWi.23), and Babangida Muhammed Adamu Hammajam (NLISWi.24). The affected companies are Abbal Bako & Sons Bureau De Change Limited (NLISWe.25), Generation Currency BDC Limited (NLISWe.26), and Nine to Nine BDC Limited (NLISWe.27).

The Federal Government reiterated its directive to financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions to comply fully with sanctions obligations, including asset-freezing requirements, the filing of Suspicious Transaction Reports and the reporting of all relevant matches to the appropriate authorities. The sanctions committee also commended the efforts of major government institutions involved in the investigation, including the Federal Ministry of Justice, Office of the National Security Adviser, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of State Services, EFCC and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit. Reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment to combating terrorism financing, the committee said the government would continue working with domestic institutions and international partners to deny terrorist groups access to financial resources. “Nigeria remains resolute in ensuring terrorists and their financiers find no safe haven within the country’s financial system,” the committee said.

Although the EFCC has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, sources said the commission’s investigation focused on alleged terrorism financing activities and financial transactions suspected to be linked to terrorist operations. The sources, however, declined to disclose when formal charges would be filed.

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Police Dismiss Viral Katsina Video, Say Armed Men Are Vigilantes, Hunters

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June 25, 2026

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Police Dismiss Viral Katsina Video, Say Armed Men Are Vigilantes, Hunters

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has categorically dismissed claims circulating on social media that a viral video from Katsina State showed a police officer fraternising with armed bandits, insisting that the individuals featured are recognised members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) and registered hunters supporting security operations in the state. The controversy erupted after a video showing a long convoy of motorcycle riders passing stationary vehicles while a police officer appeared to wave at them went viral on social media. Background voices captured in the footage further fuelled speculation, with one person referring to the riders as “barayin daji”, a Hausa term commonly used to describe bandits.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Anietie Iniedu, categorically refuted the narrative accompanying the video, describing it as false, misleading, and malicious. The police explained that the footage captured a routine interaction between a police officer and community-based security volunteers as they proceeded to a designated operational area in Musawa and Matazu Local Government Areas of Katsina State. “For the avoidance of doubt, the individuals featured in the video are not bandits. They are duly recognised members of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN) and registered hunters who are actively supporting ongoing security operations in collaboration with security agencies in Musawa and Matazu Local Government Areas of Katsina State,” the statement read in part. The police stressed that any claim suggesting the officer was interacting with bandits is entirely false and intended to mislead the public. The Force condemned what it described as the deliberate distortion of facts and the circulation of misinformation capable of causing public anxiety, undermining confidence in security institutions, and frustrating ongoing security operations.

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An independent review of the footage shows dozens of motorcycles travelling in a convoy along a rural road. A man wearing police camouflaged uniform is seen standing beside another security operative dressed in a black top and red cap as the convoy passes. The video does not clearly establish the identity of the riders. While some appear to be carrying long objects believed to be firearms, the footage is not clear enough to determine with certainty their specific type. Notably, there is no visible confrontation between the convoy and the security personnel, and the vehicles parked by the roadside, with passengers inside, were left untouched. Security experts noted that community-based security partnerships have increasingly become part of Nigeria’s counter-banditry strategy, particularly in North West states where local hunters, vigilante groups, and other volunteer forces provide intelligence and operational support to conventional security agencies.

The police urged members of the public to disregard the misleading claims attached to the video and rely only on information disseminated through official channels of the Nigeria Police Force and other authorised government sources. The Force warned individuals and groups engaged in the creation, publication, or dissemination of false information capable of prejudicing public peace and security to desist immediately, noting that appropriate legal action may be taken against violators. “The Force warns individuals and groups engaged in the creation, publication, or dissemination of false information capable of prejudicing public peace and security to desist immediately, as appropriate legal action may be taken against violators,” the statement added. Reaffirming its commitment to public safety, the Nigeria Police Force said it would continue collaborating with legitimate community-based security stakeholders and other relevant partners in the collective effort to protect lives, safeguard communities, and combat crime across the country. “The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to working with legitimate community-based security stakeholders and other relevant partners in the collective effort to protect lives, safeguard communities, and combat crime across the country,” the statement concluded.

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Mike Ozekhome Barred from Using SAN Title as LPPC Orders Suspension

Published

6 hours ago

June 25, 2026

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Mike Ozekhome

Mike Ozekhome Barred from Using SAN Title as LPPC Orders Suspension

The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC) has suspended the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) rank of prominent constitutional lawyer and human rights advocate, Professor Mike Ozekhome, pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him.

The decision was taken during the LPPC’s 173rd General Meeting held on June 23, 2026, and communicated in a statement signed by the committee’s Secretary and Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Kabir Eniola Akanbi.

According to the committee, the suspension was approved pursuant to Paragraph 26(6) of the Guidelines for the Conferment of the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, pending the final determination of disciplinary proceedings currently before the LPPC’s Disciplinary and Ethics Sub-Committee.

The LPPC stated that the action was necessary to preserve the integrity, dignity and prestige associated with the SAN rank while the allegations and related proceedings are being reviewed.

“The Legal Practitioners’ Privileges Committee (LPPC), at its 173rd General Meeting held on 23 June 2026, approved the suspension of Chief Mike Ozekhome from the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria,” the statement read.

The committee further directed Ozekhome to immediately cease presenting himself or holding himself out as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria until the disciplinary process is concluded.

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“Accordingly, Chief Mike Ozekhome shall refrain from parading himself, presenting himself, or otherwise holding himself out as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria pending the final determination of the disciplinary proceedings,” the LPPC added.

Although the committee did not disclose the specific allegations that prompted the suspension, the development comes amid ongoing legal controversies involving the senior lawyer. Reports indicate that Ozekhome is facing criminal proceedings linked to a disputed London property ownership case in which allegations of forgery, impersonation and the use of allegedly forged documents have been raised.

The senior advocate has consistently denied any wrongdoing and maintains his innocence regarding the allegations.

The case has attracted widespread attention within legal circles, particularly following reports that the Attorney-General of the Federation took over the prosecution of the matter. The dispute reportedly centers on ownership claims relating to a London property allegedly connected to the late former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Lt.-Gen. Jeremiah Useni.

Legal analysts note that disciplinary action against holders of the SAN rank is relatively rare, making the LPPC’s decision one of the most significant professional sanctions involving a senior member of the legal profession in recent years.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) title remains the highest professional distinction awarded to legal practitioners in Nigeria. The rank is reserved for lawyers who have demonstrated exceptional contributions to legal practice, advocacy, scholarship and the advancement of the rule of law.

Ozekhome, a professor of law and one of Nigeria’s most recognizable constitutional lawyers, has built a distinguished legal career spanning several decades. He is widely known for his involvement in high-profile constitutional, electoral and human rights cases, as well as his vocal advocacy for democracy, civil liberties and judicial independence.

The LPPC emphasized that the suspension should not be interpreted as a final determination of guilt. Rather, it described the action as an interim measure designed to protect public confidence in the SAN rank while disciplinary proceedings continue.

“The LPPC remains committed to upholding the highest standards of professional ethics, integrity and discipline within the legal profession and to ensuring that the Rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria continues to command public confidence and respect,” the statement added.

The outcome of the disciplinary proceedings is expected to determine whether Ozekhome’s SAN privileges will be restored or whether further sanctions may be imposed.