Blind torture victim seeks justice after wrongful detention by Nigerian military

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By: Adamu Aliyu Ngulde 
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‎A man who went blind while in military detention after being falsely accused of belonging to Boko Haram has demanded justice and compensation from the Nigerian authorities.
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‎Ahmadu Gujja told reporters in Maiduguri that soldiers arrested him and dozens of others in 2014 in Gallari village, Borno State, and detained them for years under harsh conditions.
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‎“We were starved. We drank our urine,” Gujja said at a press conference held at the Amada Hotel. “They brought us out to see the sun; that was how my eye started painfully affecting me, and I subsequently lost my sight.”
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‎According to an investigation by local outlet HumAngle, troops arrested 42 men from the village on suspicion of being Islamist insurgents. The detainees were first held at Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri and later transferred to Kainji military camp.
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‎Only five of the men survived more than a decade in detention, HumAngle reported. Gujja and his two brothers Mohammed and Hashim Garba were among three released in April 2025 after being cleared of any links to the jihadist group.
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‎“There is still no news about 36 others,” Gujja said, alleging that soldiers forced them to confess to being Boko Haram members.
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‎Amnesty International Country Director Isa Sunusi, who attended the event, condemned what he described as the military’s “pattern of wrongful profiling.”
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‎“This is a common thing. Government officials do force people to accept they are Boko Haram,” Sunusi said. “We will take this issue very seriously and demand accountability.”
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‎Ahmed Shehu, chairman of the North East Civil Society Coalition, pledged to support the survivors and their families. He said the Borno State government has launched a Transitional Justice Framework aimed at helping victims of conflict-related abuses.
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‎Gujja’s elderly mother told journalists she now struggles to feed his and his late brother’s children. “We are staying in a field, not a house,” she said. “The children need education and a means to start a business.”
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‎HumAngle Managing Director Hauwa Shafi’i said her organisation had contacted the Nigerian military for comment but had yet to receive a response.
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