BREAKING NEWS: DSS Frees NYSC Member Onyinyechi in Ebonyi After Two Weeks in Detention

Miss Daniela Onyinyechi Ekuma, a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has been released by the Department of State Services (DSS) after being held incommunicado for two weeks.

Her father, Mr. Alfons Ekuma Egwu, confirmed her release to SaharaReporters on Saturday, saying:
“Thanks for your concern and assistance. My daughter has been released unhurt.”

Ekuma, who was deployed to Ekiti State for her national service, had traveled to Afikpo North, Ebonyi State, on August 21, 2025, to attend her grandmother’s burial. However, in the early hours of that same day around 4 a.m., DSS operatives reportedly stormed the area, arrested her, and moved her first to their Abakaliki office before transferring her to an undisclosed location.

Her family had earlier accused the DSS of abducting her without explanation, fueling public outrage after the incident was reported.

This case once again highlights the disturbing trend of illegal detentions and human rights abuses by security agencies, especially in Nigeria’s South-East region.

Only two weeks earlier, SaharaReporters documented another tragedy when a woman, Mrs. Chioma Chikadibia, died from depression and ill health following the prolonged detention of her husband and three daughters by the Abia State Police Command.

According to her surviving daughter, Chikiezie Ifeoma Lilian, Mrs. Chikadibia passed away on August 8, 2025.
“I lost my mom on Friday, August 8, 2025. She died out of depression and other stuff over the continual detention of her husband (my father) and her three daughters by the police,” she said.

The victims — 63-year-old shoemaker, Mr. Chikadibia Sunday, and his daughters, Glory, Ngozi, and Ogechi — had been arrested on April 12, 2025, during a violent midnight raid at their home in Alaukwu Village, Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, Abia State.