Three of the 42 men from Gallari, a community in Konduga Local Government Area of Borno State, have regained freedom after 11 years of arbitrary military detention. Two of them returned home with severe health complications, while the third, Ahmadu Gujja, is completely blind.
Their release comes more than a decade after the 2014 military raid that decimated the small Shuwa Arab farming community in northeastern Nigeria — a tragedy overshadowed by the global attention given to the abduction of 276 Chibok schoolgirls around the same period.
A Village Torn Apart
Before his arrest, Ahmadu Gujja was in his mid-20s — a farmer, herder, and breadwinner caring for his widowed mother and seven siblings. But in April 2014, everything changed when soldiers and members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) stormed Gallari, rounding up 42 men on suspicion of links to Boko Haram.
“The soldiers gathered everyone in the village and asked if we were Boko Haram. We said no, but they wanted us to say yes,” Gujja recalled.
Eyewitnesses said the men were tortured in front of their families before being transported in military trucks to Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri, where they were subjected to brutal interrogations and inhumane conditions.“The cell was tight, with no good toilet, and we could only defecate in a bucket. There was not enough water, and the food was never enough,” Gujja told HumAngle, which documented their ordeal. “We suffered so much that even if we were hiding something, we would have confessed.”
Years of Darkness and Despair
After one week in Giwa, the detainees were flown to a military facility in Niger State, where conditions reportedly worsened. Water was scarce, and many died from hunger and untreated injuries. Gujja said that during interrogations, he sustained head injuries that, combined with prolonged darkness, eventually rendered him blind.
“They kept us in a cell for a year without seeing the sun. When they finally brought us out, my eyes began to hurt. I lost sight in one eye, then the other,” he said.
Despite being declared innocent by a court six years into detention, Gujja and others remained in custody for several more years before their eventual release in 2025.
Freedom, But at a Price
When Gujja returned home after 12 years, he found his world shattered. His first wife had died from grief shortly after his arrest, while his second wife had been abducted by Boko Haram and forced into marriage with an insurgent.Now blind and dependent on his ageing mother, Gujja lives in an unfinished thatched house that leaks whenever it rains. “Whenever it rains, we cannot sleep. Before, even our goats had better shelter than this,” he lamented.
He has since remarried in a small ceremony arranged by his mother and relies on painkillers for his worsening headaches. “If I can get my rights without causing any problem, I’ll be glad. I need support to start a business and take care of my family,” he said.
Brothers in Suffering
Ahmadu was not alone. Two other survivors, brothers Mohammed and Hashim Garba, were released alongside him. Both men, also farmers, endured the same torture and starvation during detention.
“When we first came back, I couldn’t even walk to the toilet without help,” Mohammed said. “They gave us ₦50,000 when we were released — after wasting 12 years of our lives. The money finished in two days.”
Both brothers now struggle to rebuild their lives in a community still haunted by the mass arrest. “We don’t want to be beggars,” Mohammed added. “We just want to work and live again.”
‘When We Saw Them, We Cried’
For relatives, the release was both joyous and heartbreaking. “When we saw them, we cried. They were unrecognisable,” said one villager.
Of the 42 men taken in 2014, only five are confirmed to be alive — and only three have returned. The remaining two, identified as Maina Musa and Isa Usman, remain in military custody awaiting court hearings.
No official explanation has ever been provided for the arrests, and repeated requests for comment from the Nigerian Army have gone unanswered.
A Forgotten Atrocity
Human rights advocates have condemned the prolonged detention of innocent civilians without trial, describing it as a gross violation of the Nigerian Constitution and international law.
Sheriff Ibrahim, a Maiduguri-based lawyer, told HumAngle that the case of the Gallari men exemplifies systemic abuse of power. “Under the Constitution, no one should be detained for more than 48 hours without charge. Holding people for over a decade without trial is unlawful and unconstitutional,” he said.
Ibrahim urged the federal government to establish an independent inquiry and compensate survivors and families of the deceased. “If there is no evidence, release them. If there is, charge them. That is how to restore public trust in justice,” he added.
Justice Denied
While government programs have been introduced to rehabilitate and reintegrate repentant Boko Haram members, little attention has been paid to victims of wrongful detention like the Gallari men.
Aisha, an activist whose son remains missing after a similar arrest, said families cannot move on without truth and justice. “How can we talk of peace when innocent people are in detention for over 10 years? Release them first,” she said.
For Gallari, justice remains elusive. The village has yet to recover from the trauma, and many children who lost their fathers have dropped out of school to fend for themselves.
As Ahmadu Gujja sits in his leaking hut, blind but hopeful, his quiet plea captures the community’s pain: “We have suffered enough. We just want our lives back.”
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