Father Narrates How Security Personnel Tortured His 17-Year-Old Son To Death For Allegedly Receiving Phone Belonging To Board Director’s Wife

A 17-year-old senior secondary student, Abdullahi Tukur Abba, has been tortured to death by a group of security personnel belonging to a unit code-named ‘Operation Farauta’ in Adamawa State, Northeast Nigeria.

Operation Farauta, which comprises personnel of the armed forces, police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), was created to tackle security challenges arising from the Boko Haram invasion of some parts of the state.

The outfit reportedly tortured young Abba to death, following an allegation that he received a stolen iPhone 7 belonging to the wife of the Executive Director of Adamawa State Scholarship Board, Shuaibu Wambai Zumo.

Speaking to SaharaReporters in an emotion-laden voice, the father of the deceased, Tukur Abba, who is the immediate past librarian of Modibbo Adama University, said, “Men of Operation Farauta murdered my 17-year-old son on a mere allegation of receiving a stolen phone.”

He added, “I was at home on Saturday when operatives of the security outfit barged into my house, driving a Toyota Hilux with Adamawa State number plate from the Scholarship Board.

“They picked up my son after they informed me that he would be questioned in connection to a stolen phone; so, I obliged them.

“Hours later, I was handed a phone only to hear my son crying and saying ‘Daddy, they’ll kill me’; he then pleaded to be allowed to go, assuring that he would produce the missing phone.

“Upon their return to my house, they ransacked everywhere, no phone was found. The boy now told me he told them that he received the stolen item to save his life.”

The Senior Secondary School II student who was arrested on August 5 died today (Wednesday), August 9, after he was admitted at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital, Yola.

He was admitted with bruises on his body.

Commenting on the incident, the spokesman for the state police command, SP Suleiman Nguroje, said, “An investigation into the cause of the death of the minor is ongoing and those found culpable, no matter their status, would be prosecuted.”