The government says it has no reason to hold Dadiyata or charge him to court.
The Kaduna State government has denied involvement in the abduction of Abubakar Idris Usman, a lecturer and social media critic popularly known as Dadiyata.
The 34-year-old was kidnapped from his residence in Barnawa neighbourhood in Kaduna on August 2, 2019 and has not been seen ever since.
Due to his very public criticism of the Kaduna government and Governor Nasir El-Rufai, many have alleged that he was abducted by security agents working for the state.
His family sued the authorities last year claiming he was illegally detained and demanded his unconditional release.
However, the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Aisha Dikko, said in a statement on Monday, August 31, 2020 that the government does not know his whereabouts.
She said, “Anything to the contrary is a vile assertion that seeks to stretch the fact that he was abducted within Kaduna State to mean the involvement of the state government.
“Every citizen that the state government has reason to suspect has been involved in incitement, injurious falsehood or criminal defamation has been appropriately charged before the courts and afforded due process.
“The state government has neither filed any complaint against Mr Usman with the police nor has it instituted a suit against him before the court.”
Dikko’s Monday statement dealt generally with accusations against El-Rufai’s attitude to the rule of law.
The governor’s invitation to speak at the 60th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) last week was withdrawn after protests by lawyers who accused him of displaying disrespect for the rule of law.
Dikko said the governor’s administration has, since 2015, maintained a fidelity to the rule of law and has tried its best to uphold order by enforcing the law.
Source: Pulse Nigeria
