The Department of State Services (DSS) has revived its investigation into the 2019 disappearance of Abubakar Idris, widely known as Dadiyata, with plans to invite individuals suspected to be connected to the matter.
Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma in Katsina State, was reported missing on August 1, 2019, after gunmen allegedly whisked him away from his home in Kaduna.
Nearly seven years on, his location remains unknown.
The renewed move by security operatives comes amid fresh concerns raised by his wife, Kadijah, over the continued uncertainty surrounding his fate.
She shared her thoughts during a video interview with Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri, posted on his X handle on Thursday.
Omokri, who visited Kadijah — a mother of two — at her residence, appealed for public support for the family and pledged to pursue justice on their behalf.
“We pray that one day, he will come back,” Kadijah said when asked what she had to say about her husband’s disappearance over the years, especially given recent comments made by former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.
Appealing to Nigerians, she said, “They should please do whatever they can to help us know his whereabouts, if he’s alive or not.”
Omokri further asked Kadijah what she had to say about an old comment made about her husband that suggested “mockery.”
“It was somebody who showed me (the post) because I didn’t have a phone at that time,” she said of the 2019 comment reportedly made by the son of a former Kaduna State Governor.
The post had read, “Those same clowns who encouraged him when he was creating false stories and capitalising on lies that could endanger lives solely for political ends are the same individuals trending hashtags asking, ‘#WhereisDadiyata.’
“Dangerous lies in the public space have consequences. I felt bad about it (the comment). I can’t even explain,” Kadijah stated in the video.
She further narrated how her husband was abducted as he alighted from his car in their compound on August 2, 2019, saying she watched from the window as it happened.
Offering words of reassurance, Omokri told her that Dadiyata would return safely if alive and that justice would prevail should the worst be confirmed. He also called for assistance for the family.
He appealed to the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, for “whatever he can do for them… to help their living conditions, probably relocate them, help their education, or help the mother with a job. Nigeria owes a duty of care to this family for what has happened to them.”
Dadiyata, known for his commentary online in addition to his academic work, was abducted on August 2, 2019, by unidentified gunmen as he drove into his residence in Barnawa, Kaduna.
The case regained public prominence on February 14, 2026, after El-Rufai denied any role in the disappearance, maintaining that the missing lecturer was more critical of the Kano State administration than that of Kaduna.
“Dadiyata was not a fierce critic of the Kaduna State government. He was a fierce critic of the Kano State government.
“He is a Kwankwasiya guy; he lives in Kaduna and lectures at a university in Katsina State, but is a fierce critic not of Kaduna State. Go and review his timeline,” he said.
El-Rufai added that he had no prior knowledge of Dadiyata before news of the abduction reached the authorities.
“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,” he said.
In response, former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, rejected attempts to link him to the incident in a statement released by his former Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Muhammad Garba.
He described the allegations as “reckless, unfounded, and a clear attempt to shift responsibility for an incident that occurred entirely within Kaduna State.”
According to Ganduje, Dadiyata was widely recognised in Kaduna for criticising the state government.
“Everyone in Kaduna knew the nature of the criticism he made and who it was directed at,” he said.
Meanwhile, a security source disclosed that the DSS recently confiscated El-Rufai’s passport at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport to stop him from travelling overseas while investigations continue.
“The DSS has reopened the case of the 2019 disappearance in Kaduna of a renowned government critic, Abubakar Idris, better known as Dadiyata, and several other cases of missing persons.
“El’Rufai is fully aware that the DSS is investigating him and his two sons for Dadiyata’s kidnapping.
The Service was reported to have reopened the case and was set to invite El-Rufai’s sons for questioning over the matter.
(PUNCH)
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