EXCLUSIVE: Family Accuses Ex-Army Chief Faruk Yahaya’s Wife Of Ordering Female Soldier’s Detention, Daily Torture Over ‘Missing $50,000’

The wife of Nigeria’s former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya (retd.), has been accused of illegally detaining and torturing a female soldier attached to her, after she allegedly claimed that $50,000 went missing from her Abuja residence.

SaharaReporters gathered that Hajiya Salamatu Faruk Yahaya ordered the detention of the soldier without trial or any legal order, and has continued to hold her at a military guardroom in Abuja for over a month.

The name of the detained soldier is Amina Sani Maidoki, a 25-year-old female soldier.

“She was serving as her ADC sometime last month. She claimed some of her money was missing, so they started taking them one by one for interrogation in their house in Abuja,” a relative of Amina Sani Maidoki told SaharaReporters.

“One of the female soldiers (Amina) who was attached to that woman is like a daughter to me. She grew up in my house,” the relative added.

SaharaReporters learned that after an interrogation, where she denied knowing anything about the missing money, Amina was ordered by Hajiya Salamatu to be detained at her house until she confessed under duress.

“She was arrested and detained on April 3, 2025,” a family source told SaharaReporters.

Sources revealed that when Amina’s family threatened to take legal action to enforce her fundamental human rights, Hajiya Salamatu responded by transferring her to a military facility, where she is allegedly being tortured daily to confess to stealing the money.

“They moved her to a military barracks and started torturing her on a daily basis. The woman has seized all Amina’s properties and is claiming that the stolen money is $50,000. She says our daughter must pay her before she will be released,” one of the family sources said.

Another source close to the family said, “Even if they suspect she stole the money, they should have filed charges against her in court. But they did not do that. Instead, what they are doing is to torture her daily, forcing her to admit that she stole the money.”

“She was arrested and detained on April 3, 2025. Now, we are trying to sell some of our properties to pay the woman so that she can release our daughter,” the relative said.

According to them, Salamatu Faruk Yahaya has warned those around her not to allow the issue to reach social media.

“She told the soldiers she doesn’t want this to get to social media,” the family member told SaharaReporters.

They also raised concerns that grown children in the ex-army chief’s household may be involved in the alleged theft, but the woman is targeting the junior female soldiers instead.

“We don’t know what the other girls are going through. But we know that our daughter is being tortured without any charge. She is not a criminal. They should take her to court if she did anything wrong, not torture her in secret,” the source added.

When SaharaReporters reached out to the spokesperson for the Nigerian Army, Lieutenant Colonel Onyinyechi Anele, she said she was not aware of the incident but promised to investigate the matter and provide a response.

“I am not aware but please give me all the necessary details. I promise to investigate and I will get back to you,” she said.

Amina’s case is similar to the case of 15 domestic staff currently languishing in jail after being locked up by the former First Lady Patience Jonathan since 2019 over an unproven case of robbery.

SaharaReporters gathered that these workers have been rotting behind bars without a court conviction, as sources told SaharaReporters that their trial has been repeatedly stalled on the orders of the influential former First Lady.