The wife of a former personnel of the Department of State Services, (DSS) Ibrahim Aliu-Mesongo, also known as Bichiia Maisango, has passionately appealed to President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, senior advocate of Nigeria, SAN, to intervene in the continued detention of her husband who was dismissed from service July 28, 2026, following his arrest June 3, without being charged to court.
Pleading for his immediate release, the woman, Hawau Mundi, in a save-our-soul (SOS) outcry to President Tinubu in a video on social media, said her husband had remained in DSS detention for more than two months and that attempts by his lawyer to have access to him and secure his release had yielded no response.
According to her, the family initially decided to keep the matter away from social media in the hope that the DSS would resolve the issue internally, particularly after it became clear that Ibrahim was personnel of the agency.
However, she said the continued detention without any apparent charge forced the family to seek legal assistance.
Mundi said, “Good evening, Nigerians. My name is Hawau Mundi. I’m the wife of Ibrahim Aliu-Mesongo, also known as Bichiia Maisango, who has been in DSS detention since the 3rd of June 2026.
“We tried to keep it as quiet as possible, but because there are circumstances surrounding the arrest and everything that I have decided to keep out of social media, even though I left some hints, they came out on their own to see he’s their personnel, right?
“And so, since then, we expected them to do their thing and, you know, let him go or charge him to court. But nothing was done. So, we had to get a lawyer involved.”
She said the family’s lawyer formally wrote to the DSS on July 15, 2026, requesting immediate access to Ibrahim, but the request was allegedly ignored.
“And on the 15th of July, a lawyer wrote this requesting for immediate access to see his client, my husband. It wasn’t acknowledged. They did not do anything.
“They didn’t call him. They didn’t do anything. Now, 15th of July was when that one was written,” she said.
According to Mundi, when the lawyer received no response, he wrote another letter on July 22, demanding the unconditional release of Ibrahim on the grounds that he had not been charged before a court.
She said the lawyer also petitioned the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice over the continued detention.
“On the 22nd of July, when he didn’t hear from them, he wrote another letter requesting for the unconditional release of Ibrahim Aliu since they didn’t charge him to court and he didn’t communicate with his lawyer to say this is what we’re doing.
“He also wrote a petition to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice. Now, all this was done, and we didn’t get any response.
“The lawyer didn’t get any response,” she said.
Mundi said the situation took a new turn on July 28 when her husband was officially dismissed from the DSS.
According to her, the DSS communicated the dismissal to Ibrahim and cited alleged “discreditable conduct,” “disobedience to law and order” and “prevarication” among the reasons for the disciplinary action.
“On the 28th of July, 28th of last month, Bichi was dismissed from the service. They communicated officially to him that he has been dismissed from service.
“And they gave the following reasons, discreditable conduct, disobedience to law 4, order and prevarication or whatever they said,” she said.
The development, she argued, has raised further questions about why Ibrahim remains in DSS custody if the agency has already terminated his employment.
Mundi said that nearly two weeks after his dismissal, her husband was still being held by the DSS despite not having been charged before a court.
“Now, from 28th of July till now, it’s almost two weeks. If you have dismissed somebody, why is he still in your detention? You haven’t charged him to court.
“You have dismissed him, meaning he’s no longer your personnel. What is he still doing in this detention?” she asked.
The distraught wife therefore appealed directly to President Tinubu to intervene and ensure that her husband is either charged before a competent court or released from detention.
“That’s why I’m crying out. I’m calling on the President of the Federation, President Bola Amed Tinubu, to please intervene.
“I’m calling on the Honorable Minister of Justice, the Attorney General of the Federation. I’m calling on Amnesty International. I’m calling on the National Human Rights Commission to please intervene,” she said.
Mundi also expressed concern over the emotional strain the prolonged detention has placed on her and her family, saying she is a federal government employee and is struggling to reconcile that status with her responsibilities as a wife and mother.
She said: “Because I have stated online before that there’s a thin line between my being an employee of the federal government myself and my being a mother and a wife. That line is about to snap.
“We want my husband released from DSS detention.
“If they will not charge him to court since they have dismissed him, let them let him go. Because I need him back whole, not in a body bag.
“Nigerians, please do something.”
The continued detention of Ibrahim Aliu-Mesongo, despite his reported dismissal from the DSS, has prompted Mundi to publicly seek intervention from the highest levels of government and human rights organisations.
