The Department of State Services has reopened investigations into the 2019 disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, and is set to invite suspects in connection with the case.
The development marks a new twist in the nearly seven-year-old mystery and comes just days after Kadijah, the wife of the missing lecturer, made a passionate public appeal for answers.
In an emotional video interview with Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri, released on Thursday, Kadijah pleaded with Nigerians to help uncover the truth about her husband’s fate. “They should please do whatever they can to help us know his whereabouts, if he’s alive or not,” she said.
Speaking from her residence, Kadijah also provided a harrowing account of the abduction, describing how she watched from a window as her husband was taken after alighting from his car in their compound in Barnawa, Kaduna, on August 2, 2019.
Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, was declared missing after gunmen reportedly seized him. His whereabouts have remained unknown ever since.
The DSS has taken steps to prevent key suspects from leaving the country. The Service was reported to have recently seized the passport of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to prevent him from travelling abroad while investigations are ongoing.
According to the source, “El-Rufai is fully aware that the DSS is investigating him and his two sons for Dadiyata’s kidnapping.” The Service is now set to invite El-Rufai’s sons, among other suspects, for questioning over the matter.
The case had resurfaced days earlier when El-Rufai denied any involvement, arguing that Dadiyata was primarily a critic of the Kano State government, not the Kaduna State government. “I didn’t even know him. It was Ganduje that was his problem,” El-Rufai had stated.
However, former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, swiftly dismissed the claims as “reckless, unfounded, and a clear attempt to shift responsibility,” insisting that Dadiyata was widely known in Kaduna for his criticism of the state government.
As the investigation gains momentum, Omokri, who visited Kadijah to offer support, has appealed to Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, for assistance. He called for help with the family’s living conditions, education for the children, or employment for Kadijah, stating, “Nigeria owes a duty of care to this family for what has happened to them.”
With the DSS now actively pursuing leads and Kadijah’s plea echoing across the nation, the push for justice in the Dadiyata case has entered a critical new phase.
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