Kwankwaso supports investigation into Dadiyata's vanishing, calls for restitution to be paid to his relatives

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Former Kano Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has called on the government to compensate social media activist Abubakar Idris Dadiyata and his family upon the conclusion of a fresh police investigation into his 2019 abduction.

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He made the demand while welcoming the Inspector-General of Police’s order for a comprehensive probe into the case.

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Kwankwaso, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress in the forthcoming 2027 election, made his position known in a statement posted on his official X account on Saturday.

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“Since his abduction in 2019, my associates and I have consistently prayed and advocated for the authorities to conduct a thorough investigation and bring those responsible for his disappearance to justice,” he said.

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He also urged police to place under close surveillance the officers named in fresh allegations surrounding the case.

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“I urge the police authorities to place the named individuals under close surveillance to prevent any interference with the process,” he added.

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The statement followed a petition filed by human rights lawyer Abba Fagge to Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu.

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According to some media reports, the petition demanded an independent investigation into two senior police officers over allegations of involvement in Dadiyata’s disappearance.

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The petition was prompted by claims from a former Senior Special Assistant to ex-Zamfara Governor Bello Matawalle, Muhammad Kamarawa, who alleged that the two officers threatened him during his detention at Operations Yaki in Kaduna in 2021, boasting that they had killed Dadiyata.

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The reports noted that Disu subsequently directed the Police Monitoring Unit to investigate the allegations.

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Kwankwaso commended the IGP for what he described as decisive and long-overdue action, while also praising Fagge and the wider public for sustaining pressure on authorities over the years.

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“We remain hopeful that this investigation will finally deliver truth and justice,” he said.

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Dadiyata, a lecturer in the Department of English and Linguistics at Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, was abducted in the early hours of August 2, 2019, at his home in Barnawa, Kaduna. Armed gunmen seized him as he drove into his compound and took him away in his own car. He has not been seen or heard from since.

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He was known for his fierce criticism of then-Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and was a prominent supporter of the Kwankwasiyya movement. Both Ganduje and former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai have previously denied any involvement in his disappearance.

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The DSS had in February, reopened investigations, seized El-Rufai’s passport to prevent him from travelling abroad, and was set to invite his sons for questioning.

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Both El-Rufai and former Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje, a prominent target of Dadiyata’s online criticism, denied any involvement in his disappearance, even as Dadiyata’s wife, Kadijah, publicly appealed to Nigerians to help establish her husband’s whereabouts.

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