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15-Year-Old Aisha Cries Out Over Father’s Detention At IGP’s Special Tactical Squad Abuja
A 15-year- old Aisha Sanusi has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to use his good offices to order the Inspector General of Police to release her father Malam Sanusi Mohammed Inuwa who has been in the police custody under a dehumanizing condition for no just cause.
Miss Aisha wrote an open letter addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari on her Facebook page and this attracted so many comments, our reporter contacted her and heard her story.
On arrival at NICON quarters, House No:10, Sokoto State. Our reporter sought audience with the brave and devastated young girl in her early 15 and the mother who was laying down sick and could barely notice our stay. According to Aisha, trouble started on Sunday,16th of May 2021 ; able body men came looking for her father, Mal.Sanusi who happens to be a journalist ( Publisher) and business man, who publishes Daily Focus Newspaper. My father received them but they said my father was under arrest, he asked them for what offence and they said until he gets to Abuja.
They took him to Abuja by road and detained him at STS Abuja, the IGP Special Tactical Squad that specializes in catching kidnappers, armed rubbers, bandits from May 16th till 18th on the orders of DSP Hamza Galadima, who the police claimed as complainant, who had business deals with my father.
In fact, my father told me that DSP Hamza Galadima purchased 10 plots of land from his company Cowries Alliance but made a staggered payment of 8 plots beginning around October or November 2020 totaling 10 million Naira, but wants to take full possession of 10 plots instead of 8 plots he paid for.
It was at this juncture they had serious disagreement leading to DSP Hamza Galadima CSO to the IGP threatening and my father also petitioned the IGP to caution and investigate him which was published on his newspaper Daily Focus. This publication angered DSP who ordered his arrest and perpetual detention using the IGP STS division, Abuja.
My father didn’t commit any crime to warrant his detention at STS former SARS police division. As am speaking to you, he has spent more than 34 days in the cell with suspected hardened criminals because he was arrested again by the same man who led the others on Saturday, May 29 in the night. Initially, they came like kidnappers and bandits without proper identity. They men beat up my father, my uncle, my mother and myself. I was slapped more than twice, my mother pushed down on the floor, our doors shattered, properties destroyed, my uncle bundled into the car along side my father but they later released my uncle.
This has brought shame to my family, because people in the estate and around the vicinity now see my father as a criminal. My mother’s health has worsened.
I want President Buhari and other well meaning Nigerians to come to my father’s rescue. Because DSP Hamza Galadima will never be the IGP’s CSO forever, and he is using his office to dehumanize and maltreat my father. He forgot that Allah owns him and placed him in that position.
We have done everything humanly possible to secure his release but DSP Hamza Galadima refused, some of his colleagues have talked to him but he refused.
That was why I wrote to President Buhari in tears, using my Facebook page so that he will help me release my father and carry out investigation to know what really happened.
Featured
NELFUND: The Renewed Hope Engine Propelling Nigeria’s Youth into Tomorrow
By Dayo Israel, National Youth Leader, APC
As the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, I have spent most of my tenure fighting for a Nigeria where every young person, regardless of their ward or local government, family income, or circumstance, can chase dreams without the chains of financial despair.
Today, that fight feels like victory, thanks to the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND). Launched as a cornerstone of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, this initiative isn’t just a policy tweak; it’s a revolution. And under the steady, visionary hand of Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr, NELFUND has transformed from a bold promise into a roaring engine of opportunity, disbursing over ₦116 billion to more than 396,000 students and shattering barriers for over a million applicants.
Let’s be clear: NELFUND was always destined to be a game-changer. Signed into law by President Tinubu on April 3, 2024, it repealed the outdated 2023 Student Loan Act, replacing it with a modern, inclusive framework that covers tuition, upkeep allowances, and even vocational training—ensuring no Nigerian youth is left on the sidelines of progress.
But what elevates it from groundbreaking to generational? Leadership. Enter Akintunde Sawyerr, the diplomat-turned-executioner whose career reads like a blueprint for results-driven governance. From co-founding the Agricultural Fresh Produce Growers and Exporters Association of Nigeria (AFGEAN) in 2012—backed by icons like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina—to steering global logistics at DHL across 21 countries, Sawyerr brings a rare alchemy: strategic foresight fused with unyielding accountability.
As NELFUND’s pioneer MD, he’s turned a fledgling fund into a finely tuned machine, processing over 1 million applications since May 2024 and disbursing ₦116 billion—₦61.33 billion in institutional fees and ₦46.35 billion in upkeep—to students in 231 tertiary institutions nationwide. That’s not bureaucracy; that’s brilliance.
Sawyerr’s touch is everywhere in NELFUND’s ascent. Since the portal’s launch, he’s overseen a digital ecosystem that’s as transparent as it is efficient—seamless verification, BVN-linked tracking, and real-time dashboards that have quashed misinformation and built trust. In just 18 months, the fund has empowered 396,252 students with interest-free loans, many first-generation learners who might otherwise have dropped out.
Sensitization drives in places like Ekiti and Ogun have spiked applications — 12,000 in a single day in one instance, while expansions to vocational centers in Enugu pilot the next wave of skills-based funding. And amid challenges like data mismatches and fee hikes, Sawyerr’s team has iterated relentlessly: aligning disbursements with academic calendars, resuming backlogged upkeep payments for over 3,600 students, and even probing institutional compliance to safeguard every kobo. This isn’t management; it’s mastery—a man who doesn’t just lead but launches futures.
Yet, none of this happens in a vacuum. President Tinubu’s alliance with trailblazers like Sawyerr is the secret sauce securing Nigeria’s tomorrow. The President’s Renewed Hope Agenda isn’t rhetoric; it’s resources—₦100 billion seed capital channeled into a system that prioritizes equity over elitism. Together, they’ve forged a partnership where vision meets velocity: Tinubu’s bold repeal of barriers meets Sawyerr’s boots-on-the-ground execution, turning abstract policy into tangible triumphs. It’s a synergy that’s non-discriminatory by design—Christians, Muslims, every tribe and tongue united in access—fostering national cohesion through classrooms, not courtrooms.
As Sawyerr himself notes, this is “visionary leadership” in action, where the President’s political will ignites reforms that ripple across generations.
Why does this matter to us, Nigeria’s youth? Because NELFUND isn’t handing out handouts—it’s handing out horizons. In a country where 53% of us grapple with unemployment, these loans aren’t just funds; they’re fuel for innovation, entrepreneurship, and endurance.
Picture it: A first-generation polytechnic student in Maiduguri, once sidelined by fees, now graduates debt-free (repayments start two years post-NYSC, employer-deducted for ease) and launches a tech startup. Or a vocational trainee in Enugu, equipped with skills funding, revolutionizing local agriculture. This is quality education that endures—not fleeting certificates, but lifelong launchpads. Sawyerr’s focus on human-centered design ensures loans cover not just books, but bread—upkeep stipends of ₦20,000 monthly keeping hunger at bay so minds can soar. Under his watch, NELFUND has debunked doubts, refuted fraud claims, and delivered results that scream sustainability: Over ₦99.5 billion to 510,000 students by September, with 228 institutions on board.
As youth leaders, we see NELFUND for what it is: A covenant with our future. President Tinubu and MD Sawyerr aren’t just allies; they’re architects of an educated, empowered Nigeria—one where poverty’s grip loosens with every approved application, and innovation blooms from every funded desk. This isn’t charity; it’s an investment in the 70 million of us who will lead tomorrow.
We’ve crossed one million applications not because of luck, but leadership—a duo that’s turning “access denied” into “future unlocked.”
To President Tinubu: Thank you for daring to dream big and backing it with action.
To Akintunde Sawyerr: You’re the executor we needed, proving that one steady hand can steady a nation.
And to every Nigerian youth: Apply. Graduate. Conquer.
Because with NELFUND, your generation isn’t just surviving—it’s thriving, enduring, and eternal.
The Renewed Hope isn’t a slogan; it’s our story, now written in scholarships and success. Let’s keep turning the page.
Dayo Israel is the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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