The Kaduna State Government on Monday denied being involved in the abduction of a government critic, Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata.
“The Kaduna State Ministry of Justice wishes to state emphatically that the Kaduna State Government has no idea of the whereabouts of or any involvement whatsoever in the reported abduction of Abubakar Idris Usman, also known as Dadiyata,” Kaduna State justice commissioner Aisha Dikko said in a statement.
“Anything to the contrary is a vile assertion that seeks to stretch the fact that he was abducted within Kaduna State to mean the involvement of the state government.”
Dadiyata was abducted from his residence in the Barnawa neighbourhood of the Kaduna metropolis by yet to be identified persons over a year ago.
The state police at the time said he was returning home at about 1:00 a.m. when some armed men breached his home security and whisked him away in his BMW car. Neither he nor his car has been found since then.
Prior to his abduction, Dadiyata was known to be a staunch critic of the ruling elites in the country, particularly the Kaduna State Government.
The Department of State Service (DSS) was also accused of orchestrating his abduction on the directive of the state government but the Nigerian secret police have denied any involvement in Dadiyata’s predicament.
“Every citizen that the state government has reason to suspect has been involved in incitement, injurious falsehood or criminal defamation has been appropriately charged before the courts and afforded due process,” Dikko said.
She stated that the Kaduna State Government neither filed any complaint against Dadiyata with the police and nor did it institute a suit against him before the court.
The commissioner opposed the allegation that the state governor Nasir El-Rufai does not respect the rule of law as the reason for his removal from the speakers’ list at Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) conference.
Dikko said NBA’s claims were incorrect and that many of the cases were still active in court.
“The cases mentioned in the NBA petition were filed by the Ministry of Justice as part of its statutory duty to enforce law and order,” Dikko said.
“This rebuts the effort of the petitioners to personalise the functions of the government. As the responsible agency, the Ministry of Justice wishes to refute the allegations and provide a factual update on the cases.”
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