EXCLUSIVE: Walida Is 22 Years Old — National Population Commission

The National Population Commission (NPC) has confirmed that Walida Abdulhadi was born in 2004, making her 22 years old. This contradicts her family’s claim that she was born in 2008.

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The confirmation is in an official letter issued by the NPC to the Jigawa State Command of the State Security Service (SSS) in response to a request to verify her birth certificate.

The controversy over Walida’s age has been central to the public dispute over her relationship with an SSS operative, Ifeanyi Onyewuenyi, and the circumstances surrounding her departure from Jigawa State for Abuja.

PREMIUM TIMES’ FOI request on Walida

On 23 February 2026, PREMIUM TIMES wrote to the Abuja headquarters of the National Population Commission, seeking verification of a birth certificate reportedly issued to Abdulhadi Walida in Hadejia, Jigawa State.

The certificate, issued on 21 July 2010 with entry number 2265, lists her date of birth as 7 February 2004.

In a letter signed by the company’s Administrative Manager, Willie Obase-Ota, the newspaper asked the commission to confirm whether the NPC genuinely issued the certificate and whether the details contained therein were accurate.

As of the time of filing this report, the commission had not formally responded to PREMIUM TIMES’ request.

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The Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Nma Alhaji Shehu, did not answer or return multiple follow-up calls.

NPC confirms certificate is genuine

However, an insider at the commission shared with this newspaper a copy of a similar verification response the NPC sent to the Jigawa State Command of the SSS.

In the letter dated 22 January 2026, with reference number NPC/JG/CRVS/2026/VOL.I/007, the NPC confirmed that the birth certificate bearing entry number 2265, dated 21/07/2010, is genuine and duly issued by the Commission.

The letter, signed by Hannatu Musa Maaji, the Jigawa State Director of the population agency, stated that copies of the relevant registration registers were attached for verification and record purposes.

The confirmation that the certificate is genuine means Walida was born in 2004 and is currently 22 years old.

The Walida controversy

The dispute over Walida’s age is central to the wider controversy involving her and Mr Onyewuenyi, an operative of the State Security Service (SSS).

Walida’s family has alleged that Mr Onyewuenyi abducted her from Jigawa State, transported her to Abuja, converted her to Christianity, and impregnated her while she was still a minor.

They insist she was born in 2008 and was therefore underage when the events in question began in 2023.

Walida, however, told Weekend Trust in a recent interview that she met Mr Onyewuenyi in Abuja after being brought there by a woman identified as Mariam.

She denied being abducted or forcibly converted, maintaining that she relocated to Abuja in 2023 as an adult and was 19 years old at the time.

The matter escalated after she refused to return to her parents, alleging that her uncle threatened to kill her for becoming involved with a Christian man.

The SSS subsequently said it was holding her and her baby in “protective custody” following her claims of death threats.

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Her family, on the other hand, demanded her release, citing a magistrate court order, and accused the SSS of bias and anti-Islamic conduct.

Walida and her baby have since been released to the Jigawa State Government for custody while investigations continue.

With the NPC’s confirmation that her birth certificate is genuine and that she was born in 2004, a key pillar of the claim that she was a minor at the time of the disputed events appears to have been punctured.