Sowore Demands Accountability as DSS Admits Mrs. Ifedi Died in Illegal Detention

Abuja, Nigeria – January 13, 2026

The Department of State Services (DSS) has admitted that Mrs. Calista Ifedi, a woman unlawfully detained since 2021 over allegations of selling food to members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), was killed while in custody at Wawa Military Barracks.

In a statement made public on Tuesday, rights activist and publisher Omoyele Sowore disclosed that the DSS has now “finally acknowledged the death of Mrs. Calista Ifedi,” who, according to him, “died at Wawa Barracks two years ago under unlawful detention by the lawless Department of State Services (DSS).”

Mrs. Ifedi was abducted alongside her husband, Sunday Ifedi, at their residence in Enugu on November 23, 2021. Sowore stated that the couple was taken into DSS custody without due process.

“According to her husband, who was only released in December 2025, the last time he saw his wife was in March 2022, when they were taken from DSS headquarters to Wawa Barracks, separated, and never allowed to see each other again,” he said.

The DSS detention, which has now culminated in Mrs. Ifedi’s death, was described as illegal and dehumanizing, with no formal charge or trial.

“Her detention was unlawful, she was denied due process, and reports indicate she fell ill in custody without receiving adequate medical care,” the statement read.

Sowore said the DSS claimed that Mrs. Ifedi’s alleged offence was that “members of IPOB had allegedly bought food at her restaurant in Enugu. For this, she was violently taken away, disappeared into detention, and denied due process.”

While in detention at Wawa Barracks, Mrs. Ifedi reportedly became seriously ill. Instead of being treated, she was being tortured, her condition worsened.

“Her repeated complaints were ignored. She was allegedly taunted and left to deteriorate until she died,” Sowore stated.

He added that “her husband was never informed of her death” and that he personally contacted Mr. Ifedi on Monday night “to convey this devastating news before making it public.”

Condemning the circumstances of her death, Sowore described the case as emblematic of systemic impunity. “This admission confirms a grave abuse of power and a tragic failure of the Nigerian state to protect life,” he said, calling the incident “egregious crimes.”

He demanded immediate action, insisting that “Nigeria must immediately shut down the Wawa Barracks detention facility,” and that “every official involved in the unlawful detention, neglect, and death of Mrs. Calista Ifedi must be identified, arrested, and prosecuted.”

Sowore further linked the incident to past leadership at the DSS, stating: “This tragedy occurred during the period when Yusuf Bichi presided over the DSS with unchecked brutality, aided and protected by Abubakar Malami, SAN, under the criminal Muhammadu Buhari regime. History must not forget, and justice must not be denied.”

Calling for transparency and accountability, he concluded: “Mrs. Calista Ifedi deserved life, dignity, and justice. Nigeria must produce her dead body, and an autopsy must be carried out to determine the circumstances of her death.”

As of press time, the DSS has not released a detailed public explanation of the circumstances leading to Mrs. Ifedi’s death, nor announced disciplinary measures against officers involved.

The confirmation of Mrs. Calista Ifedi’s death in DSS custody has triggered widespread outrage among Nigerians over the normalcy of secret detentions, denial of medical care, and the continued operation of various detention facility outside judicial oversight.

Many Nigerians say the case reopens unhealed wounds from the #EndSARS protests and long-standing allegations surrounding secret detention centres across Nigeria, such as Tiger Base in Owerri, Awkuzu SARS in Anambra, and other notorious facilities.

Across social media, activists and commentators accused the DSS of operating a shadow system of detention marked by torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, with some alleging that places like Tiger Base have become synonymous with “organ harvesting, brutal interrogations and deaths without records,” claims the security agencies have repeatedly denied despite mounting evidence.

For many Nigerians, Mrs. Ifedi’s death is part of a grim pattern rather than an isolated incident, reinforcing public fears that security formations continue to act with impunity, shielded from accountability, just as was alleged during the EndSARS era.

The renewed anger has intensified calls for the closure of secret detention facilities, independent investigations into past abuses, and justice for victims whose lives, critics say, were extinguished far from the scrutiny of courts or the public.