The Department of State Services has revived investigations into the 2019 disappearance of Abubakar Idris, widely known as Dadiyata, and plans to invite suspects connected to the matter.
Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, was reported missing on August 1, 2019, after armed men allegedly whisked him away from his residence in Kaduna.
His location remains unknown almost seven years afterward.
The latest move follows fresh concerns raised by Kadijah, the wife of the social media commentator and critic, over her husband’s continued absence.
She spoke in a video interview with Ambassador-designate Reno Omokri, which was released on his X handle on Thursday.
Omokri, who paid a visit to the mother of two at her home, appealed for assistance for Kadijah and her children, promising 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 also asked Kadijah about an earlier remark made about her husband that appeared to ridicule him.
“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 also recounted how her husband was taken as he stepped out of his car inside their compound on August 2, 2019, noting that she witnessed the incident from the window.
Reassuring Kadijah of Dadiyata’s safe return if he is alive, and justice in the event of his death, Omokri expressed sympathy with the family and called for support for them.
Kaduna, Kano trade blame over disappearance
He urged the Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, to provide “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, a lecturer and online commentator, was kidnapped on August 2, 2019, by unidentified gunmen while driving into his home in Barnawa, Kaduna.
The episode has continued to draw public scrutiny and calls for accountability.
The issue resurfaced on February 14, 2026, when El-Rufai denied any role in the matter and maintained that the missing commentator was mainly critical of the Kano administration rather than the Kaduna State government.
“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 was reported to law enforcement.
“It was Ganduje that was his problem. I didn’t even know him. We only got the report of Dadiyata’s existence and the fact that he lives in Kaduna State after the family reported to the police that he was abducted as he was returning home in the evening.
“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.
Ganduje dismisses allegations
Responding, former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, rejected any link to the case 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 his criticism of the state government.
“Everyone in Kaduna knew the nature of the criticism he made and who it was directed at,” he said.
A security source, according to media reports, disclosed that the DSS recently confiscated El-Rufai’s passport at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to stop him from travelling abroad 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 revived the investigation and was preparing to invite El-Rufai’s sons for questioning over the case.
