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Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, has denied any involvement by his administration in the disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, insisting that allegations linking his government to the case are “totally wrong.”
El-Rufai made the remarks during an interview on ARISE News on Friday, where he was asked about the unresolved case of Dadiyata, a lecturer and social media commentator who was abducted by unknown gunmen from his Kaduna residence in 2019 and has not been seen since.
Human rights group Amnesty International has described the case as an enforced disappearance, with critics alleging that the Kaduna State Government at the time bore responsibility, given that the incident occurred within its jurisdiction.
Responding to the claims, El-Rufai dismissed suggestions of state complicity.
“They are totally wrong. What you have been given is not correct,” he said. “Dadiyata was not a fierce critic of the Kaduna State Government. He was a fierce critic of the Kano State Government. Go and review his timeline.”
The former governor stated that Dadiyata, who hailed from Kano, was critical of then Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, not his administration.
“It was Ganduje that was his problem,” El-Rufai said. “I didn’t even know he existed until he was abducted.”
El-Rufai acknowledged that Dadiyata resided in Kaduna at the time of his disappearance but maintained that the state government had no prior knowledge of him.
“Yes, he lived in Kaduna State, and it was our duty to protect him,” he said. “But how could we protect him when we didn’t even know he existed?”
He further claimed that information gathered during investigations suggested the abductors came from Kano.
“All that we could gather from his family was that the abductors came and took him, and they came from Kano. So if anybody is to be asked questions about the disappearance of Dadiyata, it is the Kano State Government. It has nothing to do with the Kaduna State Government,” he said.
El-Rufai also referred to an alleged confession by a police officer posted from Kano to Ekiti State, who reportedly admitted that he and others were sent from Kano to abduct Dadiyata.
“Three years after Dadiyata was abducted a police man confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano to abduct the guy, and he felt bad about it. That’s the only thing I know, he added. “But it was not a Kaduna State problem.”
Dadiyata’s disappearance on August 2, 2019, remains unresolved nearly seven years later, with civil society groups and members of the public continuing to call for a thorough investigation.
El-Rufai denies Kaduna govt’s role in Dadiyata’s disappearance
