Former Kaduna State senator and rights activist Shehu Sani has contradicted former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai over the latter’s comments regarding the disappearance of social commentator Abubakar Idris Usman, popularly known as Dadiyata.
In his response, Sani not only clarified Dadiyata’s state of origin, contradicting El-Rufai’s claims, but also went ahead to list other journalists allegedly arrested and detained by the El-Rufai administration.
The exchange follows El-Rufai’s appearance on Arise TV, where he addressed a recent attempt to arrest him at the airport on his way back from Egypt, as well as other sensitive national issues, including the bugging of the telephone line of the National Security Adviser.
Speaking during a special interview on Arise TV Friday evening, El-Rufai addressed several national issues, including the recent attempt to arrest him at the airport and the lingering case of the missing journalist. When asked about Amnesty International’s position that Dadiyata’s case amounted to an enforced disappearance for which the government at the time bore responsibility, El-Rufai dismissed the claim entirely.
“They are totally wrong. And what you have been given is not the right, is not the correct thing,” El-Rufai said. “Dadiyata’s timeline is still around. Go and study it. Dadiyata was not a fierce critic of Kaduna State government. He was a fierce critic of Kano State government. He is from Kano. He is a Kwankwasiyya guy. He lived in Kaduna and lectured at a university in Katsina State. He lived in Kaduna, but he is a fierce critic, not of Kaduna State. Go and review his timeline. It was Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, that was his problem.”
The former governor explained that his administration only became aware of Dadiyata after his family reported him missing to the police.
“We only got the report of Dadiyata’s existence after his family reported to the police that he was abducted as he was returning home in the evening,” he stated.
According to El-Rufai, investigations conducted at the time pointed to the abductors coming from Kano State. “And when we investigated, all that we could gather from his family was that the abductors came, took him, and they came from Kano. So, if anybody is to be asked questions about the disappearance of Dadiyata, it’s Kano State government. It has nothing to do with Kaduna State government,” he added.
He further revealed that three years after the incident, a police officer allegedly confessed to involvement. “Three years after Dadiyata was abducted, a policeman that was posted out of Kano to Ekiti State confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano and they took the guy, they abducted Dadiyata, and he felt bad about it. That’s the only thing I know. But it was not a Kaduna State problem.”
El-Rufai also maintained that the government could not have provided specific protection to Dadiyata because authorities were unaware of him before the incident.
“He lived in Kaduna state and it was our duty to protect him, but how could we protect him when we didn’t even know he existed or was a particular critic of Ganduje,” he argued.
But Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Senate, has strongly contradicted El-Rufai’s narrative, providing detailed counter claims in a series of posts on his X and Facebook handles.
Sani insisted that Dadiyata was a known critic of the Kaduna State Government, contrary to El-Rufai’s assertion that his problems were with the Kano State administration.
“Dadiyata was an outspoken critic of Kaduna State Government and Governor and NOT of Kano State or Ganduje. He is from Kaduna and lives in Kaduna with his family. Everyone in Kaduna knows the critical views of that young man”, Sani wrote.
Sani provided specific details of the abduction, stating it occurred on August 1, 2019, at Dadiyata’s residence in the Barnawa area of Kaduna. He noted that since the incident, the Kaduna State Government never issued any official statement nor visited the family.
“He was abducted from his house on the 1st of August 2019 in the Barnawa neighbourhood and his whereabouts remains unknown. Since his abduction, there was never an official statement by the Kaduna State Government and no official visit to his family. Everyone in Kaduna was afraid to talk about Dadiyata including the Police and the state house of Assembly,” Sani said.
He added that Dadiyata’s family remains available for anyone seeking the truth directly from them. “The family of Dadiyata are still around for anyone who wants to hear the truth directly from them,” he stated.
The Senator dismissed El-Rufai’s suggestion that Ganduje’s administration was responsible, describing it as false and inflammatory. “The Ganduje who never had a record of abducting or killing his fiercest critics in Kano, then he ‘jumped’ to Kaduna to abduct and ‘disappeared’ Dadiyata. A lie from the pit of hell,” he wrote.
To further substantiate his position, Sani listed other journalists and individuals he claimed were targeted for criticizing the Kaduna State Government during El-Rufai’s tenure.
“Kaduna based Journalists; Arrested and imprisoned for writing critical stories about the then Kaduna State Governor and his Government. Their names are Luka Biniyat of Vanguard (with crutches in kaduna Prison), Midat Joseph of The Leadership and Jacob Dickson of the Authentic Newspaper,” Sani posted.
He also mentioned the case of Sheikh Bello Yabo, whom he alleged was abducted from Sokoto and brought to Kaduna in 2020 for criticizing the then governor. “Sheikh Bello Yabo; abducted from Sokoto and brought to Kaduna for criticizing the Kaduna State Governor in 2020. You can verify,” he challenged.
Dadiyata, a lecturer and social media commentator known for satirical and sharp commentary on northern Nigerian politics, was actively part of Nigeria’s digital political commentary class that shaped public opinion during and after the 2015-2019 political cycle. A supporter of Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso’s political movement (Kwankwasiyya), he gained both a strong online following and powerful political enemies. He was reportedly abducted by unknown gunmen near his residence in Kaduna in August 2019 and has remained missing since then, with activists and civil society groups repeatedly demanding a thorough investigation and accountability.
The conflicting accounts from two of Kaduna State’s most prominent political figures have once again brought attention to the unresolved case, with Dadiyata’s family and human rights advocates continuing to demand answers about his fate.
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