Man misses daughter’s wedding after DSS arrested him a day before ceremony for ‘no reason’, spends 9 months in detention without trial

• Rabiu Habibu Wanka was arrested by DSS operatives on January 8, 2026.

• His arrest came a day before his daughter’s wedding and reportedly happened in front of his children.

• A Federal High Court was told in May that he had spent four months in DSS custody without arraignment or formal charges.

• TIB is demanding that DSS either release Wanka or arraign him in court.

Mallam Rabiu Habibu Wanka, a Bauchi resident, has reportedly spent about nine months in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) after he was arrested a day before his daughter’s wedding, with no public explanation given for his arrest.

The Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement is now demanding Wanka’s immediate release or arraignment, saying he should not continue to be held without being formally charged before a court.

Wanka was arrested by DSS operatives on January 8, 2026, in the Kuntum area of Bauchi shortly after afternoon prayers. His arrest came just one day before his daughter was scheduled to get married.

According to his family, the arrest happened in front of his children and neighbours, leaving the family unable to understand why he was being taken away or what offence he was suspected of committing.

A relative told The Conclave that the operatives allegedly took Wanka away without giving the family a reason for his detention. The family also alleged that the operatives searched the house and took away personal belongings, including mobile phones, identity cards, ATM cards, a laptop and other documents.

The arrest meant Wanka could not attend his daughter’s wedding the following day. Months later, the issue of his continued detention reached the Federal High Court in Bauchi, where his lawyer, Barrister Kamal Isa, challenged the legality of the detention in a fundamental-rights enforcement suit.

At proceedings reported on May 14, 2026, the court was told that Wanka had spent four months in DSS custody without being arraigned or formally charged.

His lawyer told the court that the DSS had acknowledged that Wanka remained in its custody despite not being charged before a court. Isa argued that the prolonged detention violated Wanka’s fundamental rights and provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015 governing detention.

The lawyer asked the court to order Wanka’s release, arguing that the period of detention had exceeded the permissible legal limits. Alternatively, he asked the court to direct the DSS to either release Wanka or arraign him within seven days of the court’s judgment.

The case was adjourned until June 11, 2026, for judgment. However, available public reporting does not establish what happened on that date or whether the court subsequently ordered Wanka’s release or arraignment.

The DSS also had not publicly stated a reason for Wanka’s arrest in the report on the court proceedings. The agency's publicly available media archive contains statements on other arrests and detentions in 2026 but no statement specifically addressing Wanka’s case. 

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The TIB Movement has now taken up the case, demanding that the DSS either release Wanka or bring him before a court to face any charge against him.

The development has renewed questions over the prolonged detention of a man who, according to the court proceedings, had remained in DSS custody without arraignment or formal charges months after his arrest.

Wanka’s case therefore remains centred on a basic legal question: if the authorities have a case against him, why has he not been formally arraigned, and if there is no charge against him, why does he remain in detention?

As of the latest publicly available information located for this report, the DSS has not publicly explained the reason for Wanka’s arrest or provided a public account of his continued detention.