By Ayo Kehinde
The Department of State Services (DSS) has intensified its investigation into the unresolved disappearance of Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, placing former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, and his sons under renewed scrutiny.
The security agency disclosed that it seized El-Rufai’s international passport last Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, as part of measures to prevent him from leaving the country while investigations were ongoing.
A senior DSS source said the former governor was scheduled to return to Egypt after a brief visit to Nigeria but was stopped due to the sensitive nature of the probe.
“El-Rufai is fully aware that the DSS is investigating him in connection with the abduction of Dadiyata. He had planned to visit the EFCC on Monday and the ICPC on Tuesday before travelling back to Cairo. The seizure of his passport disrupted those plans”, the source said.
According to the DSS, the investigation follows months of discreet intelligence gathering suggesting that El-Rufai, who was governor of Kaduna State at the time, may have had prior knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Dadiyata’s disappearance.
Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, was abducted from his residence in Kaduna on August 1, 2019, by unidentified gunmen and has remained missing since then.
Last week, El-Rufai claimed during an interview on Arise Television that a remorseful police officer confessed in 2023 to being part of a team allegedly sent from Kano to abduct Dadiyata. He denied any involvement in the incident, insisting that the matter was linked to former Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and that he had no prior knowledge of the abduction.
The DSS, however, questioned the credibility of the former governor’s claims, particularly the delay in reporting the alleged confession and the absence of any formal complaint to security agencies at the time.
As part of the widening probe, the DSS said it would also invite El-Rufai’s sons, Bello and Bashir, to assist in the investigation. The agency cited social media posts by the two, made months after Dadiyata’s disappearance, which it said suggested prior awareness of the activist’s political engagements and possible risks he faced.
Posts by Bashir in December 2019 and Bello in March 2020, according to the DSS, raised concerns about possible concealment of information relevant to the investigation.
The agency further emphasised that Nigerian law places a duty on citizens to report crimes and prohibits the concealment of evidence capable of obstructing justice.
“El-Rufai and his sons will be formally invited to assist our investigations. We have also been working closely with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission for over a year to examine possible links to the 2019 abduction”, the source added.
The service maintained that its investigation remains focused on establishing the roles, if any, played by the former governor and his sons, stressing that all individuals found culpable would be held accountable as the probe deepens.
