The Department of State Services on Monday opened up on why it seized the passport of the former governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, and admitted that it is investigating the man and his son over their alleged involvement in the disappearance of one Abubakar Idris, better known as Dadiyata, in 2019.
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A top security source to vanguardngr, who made the disclosure, also revealed that last Thursday’s seizure of the former governor’s passport by DSS officers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, was to stop him from fleeing to Egypt after briefly visiting Nigeria.
The security source said, “El-Rufai is fully aware that the DSS is investigating him for Dadiyata’s kidnap. So, he planned to visit the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday, and then visit the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Crimes Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday. Thereafter, he will fly back to Cairo. Seizing his passport has shattered his plans.”
According to the security source, the reopening of Dadiyata’s kidnap case followed months of intense investigations whose lead suggested that El-Rufai, who was Kaduna State governor at the time of Dadiyata’s disappearance, knew about the disappearance of Dadiyata.
It will be recalled that the lecturer in the Department of English and Linguistics at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, Dadiyata was, on August 1, 2019, declared missing by his wife after some gunmen abducted him from his Kaduna home, and his whereabouts have remained unknown till date.
But on his appearance on Arise TV last week, El-Rufai, who was governor between 2015 and 2023, said that he was privy to a confession allegedly made by a certain remorseful policeman that he was part of a team sent from Kano to abduct Dadiyata.
The former governor said, “Three years after he was abducted, a policeman who was posted from Kano to Ekiti State confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano to abduct Dadiyata, and that the officer was worried about that. That is all I know,” El-Rufai stated.
However, when he was reminded by the television anchor that Dadiyata was believed to be his critic, El-Rufai denied knowledge of the missing man, who he claimed was a supporter of the Kwankwasiyya movement and a political opponent of the then Kano State governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.
El-Rufai said, “It was Ganduje that was his (Dadiyata’s) problem. I didn’t even know him… If anybody is to be asked about the disappearance of Dadiyata, it is the Kano State government; it has nothing to do with the Kaduna State government. We didn’t even know he existed.”
The security source stated that El-Rufai’s allegation that a certain police officer made such a damning confession, and that he kept mum over such vital information, was beyond belief.
“We are talking of Dadiyata, who was kidnapped in Kaduna in 2019. Assuming, without conceding, that such alleged confession was brought to El-Rufai’s knowledge ‘three years later,’ as he claimed, in 2023, when he either was still governor or had just left office.
“Don’t forget that Dadiyata’s kidnap drew tremendous international attention, with international human rights organisations like Amnesty International raising dust over the matter. Discreet investigations revealed that El-Rufai had been using ex-Governor Ganduje and the phantom police officer as alibi. It was good he repeated same on live television,” the source pointed out.
“It would be interesting to know what a man who had been a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and governor of the state where the crime was known to have been committed, did with such key information,” stated the officer, adding, “even if he left office, another question is if he passed the information to his successor or to any law enforcement agency.”
“El-Rufai is fully aware that the DSS is investigating him and his two sons for Dadiyata’s kidnap. That was why he rushed to ARISE News Channel to cook up stories about Ganduje and the confessions of a ghost police officer, all in a bid to divert attention. He is aware of the security implication of seizing his passport. He knows he can’t officially leave the country, which is very bad for him.”
According to the source, several laws place a responsibility on citizens to assist with crime reporting and prevention. Section 123 of the Criminal Code Act prohibits the willful destruction or concealment of evidence, while the Criminal Code Act and the Penal Code, applicable to Kaduna State, deal with covering up treason, destroying evidence, or aiding suspects.
The source said the secret police would also be interested in how El-Rufai’s sons contradicted his position that Dadiyata never posed a threat to his government, and that he didn’t know of his (Dadiyata’s) existence until he was reported missing.
“Former governor El-Rufai claimed that until Dadiyata’s disappearance, he didn’t know that anybody with such name existed. However, social media posts by his sons, Bello and Bashir, suggest otherwise. Posts by his sons on “X” clearly showed that Dadiyata was a problem to the family,” offered the officer, stressing, “that is why Bello and Bashir will be invited alongside their father to help in our investigations.”
The source pointed to the fact that less than five months after Dadiyata went missing, Bashir, at about 10:16 pm on December 23, 2019, posted an interesting message on his “X” handle @BashirElrufai, saying: “The same clowns who encouraged him when he was creating false stories and capitalizing on lies that could endanger lives solely for political ends, are the same people trending hashtags asking #WhereisDadiyata!”
Doubling down on his younger brother’s post, Bello, now a member of the House of Representatives, on March 11, 2020, at 11:58 am, using his verified handle @B_ELRUFAI, tweeted, “The things that we’ve done to protect the name are unsettling. But no regrets, though, the name’ll echo. Years later, none greater. Death to a coward and a traitor
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