The Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) has confirmed the disappearance of one of its cadets, Stephen Gani, stating that investigations into the incident are ongoing and that all required procedures were followed after he was declared absent.
In an official statement, the Academy maintained that it acted in line with its regulations once the cadet failed to report for duty. The NDA also insisted that the family of the missing cadet was duly informed.
SaharaReporters had earlier exclusively reported that the family of 21-year-old Stephen Kubuma Gani was seeking urgent clarification and intervention from authorities over his unexplained disappearance from the NDA in Kaduna State. According to the family, the situation has subjected them to more than seven months of anguish without any official or documented resolution.
Gani, who hails from Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, was admitted into the Academy in 2024, SaharaReporters learnt.
Responding to the report, the NDA, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Major Reuben Kovangiya, described allegations that the Academy failed to act as “false” and misleading.
“The report alleged that the cadet mysteriously went missing from the Academy without appropriate actions taken by NDA to ascertain his whereabouts,” the statement noted.
According to the Academy, Cadet Stephen K. Gani was a member of the 76 Regular Course and resumed training on August 26, 2024.
“Cadet SK Gani was admitted into the Academy as a member of 76 Regular Course and reported for training on 26 August 2024,” the NDA stated.
The Academy explained that his training progressed smoothly until he absented himself without authorisation.
“His training progressed without any hitch, but he was observed to have absented himself from the Academy with effect from 28 April 2025 without official permission,” the statement added.
The NDA further disclosed that in line with its administrative rules, Gani’s parents were officially informed three days after his absence was observed.
“In accordance with established procedures and extant regulations guiding cadets’ administration in NDA, his parents were formally notified three days after his absence,” it said.
Seven days later, the Academy said the cadet was struck off its strength following due administrative processes.
However, the NDA revealed that it reopened investigations after receiving feedback from the parents indicating that their son’s whereabouts were still unknown.
“Feedback received later from his parents revealed that his whereabouts could not be ascertained, which led to renewed investigative procedures by the Academy, which are still ongoing,” the statement read.
Gani was attached to the Burma Battalion, bore registration number NDA/15131, and was a Naval cadet studying Geography in the Department of Geography.
Despite the Academy’s position, the family insists they have exhausted all possible avenues—emotionally, financially, and institutionally—without receiving any written explanation about what truly happened to their son.
According to them, their last contact with Gani was on Sunday, April 27, 2025, at about 2:00 p.m., when he called using his roommate’s phone. He reportedly told them he had returned safely to the Academy after spending the Easter holiday in Jos with his family.
They said that shortly after the call, all efforts to reach him failed, as his phone became unreachable and subsequent calls were unanswered.
“He told us he had arrived safely. That was the last time we ever heard his voice,” his father, Mr Gani Agby, stated in a formal inquiry submitted to the NDA Panel of Investigation on November 5, 2025.
“We never imagined that phone call would be our final contact,” he added.
The family said their distress deepened on April 29, 2025, when they received a call from Lt. Makka, the Deputy Battalion Commander of Burma Battalion, informing them that their son could not be located anywhere within the Academy.
According to them, Lt. Makka said Gani had been present during the night bed check and lights-out the previous evening.
They were also told, based on accounts attributed to Gani’s roommate, Cadet Bamaiyi H. Maidoki, that around 3:00 a.m., Gani woke him up, asked him to prepare for morning routines, and then stepped out to “ease himself,” after which he disappeared.
The family further claimed that a senior cadet, Cdt. N. O. Abdul, contacted them informally via WhatsApp to inform them that Gani had not been seen in the Academy.
Mrs Blessing Gani said the cadet advised her “not to tell anyone about it,” a statement the family said heightened their fears.
Despite these communications, the parents insisted that they never received any official written notification from the NDA regarding their son’s disappearance.
They said they have consistently raised concerns about conflicting accounts given to them.
Initially, they were told that Gani participated in bed checks and lights-out. However, they later received information suggesting possible involvement of his roommates in his disappearance.
In a submission to the NDA’s investigative panel, Gani’s father alleged that his son was the only Christian among four cadets in the room and described the circumstances as resembling “a prearranged setup.”
“As a father, I believe Stephen was hypnotised and taken by his roommates to a waiting vehicle parked outside their room by someone within the military,” he alleged.
He also claimed that after Gani went missing, his SIM card was used to communicate with his abductors.
The family further questioned how the SIM card was first declared missing but later said to have been “found” under unclear circumstances.
They said the Battalion Commander initially stated that the roommate did not have the SIM card, but after further questioning, the cadet claimed he later discovered it.
“These contradictions are disturbing,” the family said.
The parents said they were informed that the Academy had set up an internal committee of investigation, but alleged they were never granted a physical meeting with its members.
“All our communications with those said to be the chairman and secretary happened only via telephone,” they said.
“No written report, no official update, nothing concrete. We are completely in the dark.”
They added that visits to the NDA on May 1 and May 5, 2025, did not yield results, as they were not allowed to search or access areas where their son was last seen.
The family said they reported the matter at a police station near the Academy and later at the Kaduna State Police Headquarters, but claimed they were not issued any reference number.
They also said attempts to get help from their elected representatives were unsuccessful, adding that messages sent to their senator went unanswered, while they received no response from their House of Representatives member or Taraba State officials.
On July 18, 2025, nearly three months after the disappearance, Gani’s father said he received a strange call from a private number around 2:01 p.m.
“The caller asked if I was Stephen’s father,” he said. “When I said yes, I asked who he was, but he refused to identify himself. He only said, ‘Your son will be with you,’ in Hausa.”
The family said the call further worsened their emotional trauma.
Since April, they said their lives have been completely disrupted.
“We cannot sleep. We cannot eat. Our business has collapsed,” the parents said. “Every day we wake up in fear. Every night, we do not know if he is alive or dead.”
They added that they have taken loans, abandoned their work, and travelled repeatedly in search of answers, all without success.
“What hurts the most is the silence,” Gani’s mother said. “We are being treated this way because we are nobodies in Nigeria
