A widow in Adamawa State, Hannatu Ibrahim, has accused her late husband’s relatives— including a serving police inspector—of abducting her three children after allegedly dispossessing her of her belongings and luring her into a fake reconciliation meeting.
Hannatu, whose husband, Ibrahim Pandi, died in June 2023 after battling a spinal-cord injury, detailed her ordeal in a petition to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Zone 3, Yola. She said her husband’s siblings began stripping her of property even while he was still critically ill at the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
According to her, her sister-in-law forcibly seized her husband’s phone and handed it to their brother, Samaila, before his death—an act she described as the beginning of a wider plot to push her out and take over all assets.
She alleged that her in-laws took everything her husband left behind, including his Toyota Corolla, shop goods valued at N7 million, a pepper storage worth N635,000, harvested crops, documents for two plots of land, and his Infinix 05 phone. She said she was left alone to care for their children despite repeated pleas for support.
After months of hardship, Hannatu said she approached the courts in Taraba State, filing complaints at both the Magistrate Court in Jalingo and the Upper Area Court before Judge Chris Jonah. In court, she said her in-laws pleaded for time, promising to sell the Corolla and use the proceeds to complete a five-bedroom house she had started building with her husband.
“They assured the judge and my lawyer that the building is for me and the kids,” she said. But according to her, the car was sold, the money squandered, and no work was done on the building.
When she returned to court to report their failure, she said the family became desperate and began pressuring her to withdraw the case and travel to Pella, Hong LGA, for an “amicable settlement.”
She said her husband’s younger brother, Samaila, and a family member known as Fabulous repeatedly convinced her to bring the children along so the elders could “see them after a long time.”
On November 7, 2025, Hannatu travelled to Pella with her children and her younger brother, Yahaya Usman. But during the meeting two days later, her children stepped out briefly to urinate and disappeared.
Witnesses later told her that unknown men had driven away with the children.
“The meeting scattered. I ran everywhere looking for my kids,” she wrote in her petition. She immediately reported the matter at the Mararaba Pella police division and later at the Hong Divisional Police Headquarters.
Soon after, rumours emerged that her husband’s elder brother, Inspector Briska Adamu Pandi, serving with the Plateau State Police Command, was allegedly in possession of the children.
One of the abducted children—13-year-old Briska—is a special-needs child who requires a controlled diet, raising fears about his wellbeing.
A source familiar with Kilba cultural practices told SaharaReporters that the family has no right, culturally or legally, to take the children away from their mother.
“Their plan is to twist tradition,” the source said. “If they intimidate her into abandoning the children, they will sell off all the property and later dump the children.”
In her petition, Hannatu accused her in-laws of trying to “frustrate and silence” her by taking the children so she cannot continue the property dispute.
When contacted, Inspector Briska confirmed he had the children in his custody, claiming he had initiated legal proceedings to obtain custody.
“I have taken the matter to court,” he said. He denied allegations of diverting property, insisting the family acted lawfully. He argued that a competent court had ceded the late brother’s car to them and therefore the widow had no right to question how it was used.
Fabulous also denied involvement, saying she had gone to court to defend herself against “false accusations.”
Hannatu has now called on the AIG to intervene urgently and recover her children. Her petition was copied to the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) Adamawa, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Adamawa State Attorney-General.
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