Where Is Dadiyata, Is He Still Alive Or Dead? -By Adetayo Omotoyosi

During the military regimes in Nigeria, so many politicians and activist were arrested, and people knew their whereabouts. A few of them were not that lucky as they went missing and were never found.

Nigeria seems to be back to that dark period as some known critics of the governments have been abducted with no information if they are dead or alive.

Abubakar Idris, who is also known as ‘Daadiyata’ was abducted by men who are believed to be members of Nigeria’s secret police (Department of State Security.) Not much has been heard of him since his sudden disappearance last year.

He is a known critic of the Kano State government and is believed to be a staunch supporter of the former governor, Rabiu Kwankaso. Before his disappearance, he was a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State.

The Department of State Security has denied having him in their custody sparking rumours that he might have been killed secretly. The Spokesman of the service, Peter Afunaya in a released statement said that ”For the sake of emphasis, the DSS has no reason to deny its arrest and detention of suspects if it actually carried out such operations.”

Although, the statement of the DSS does not absolve them from possible involvement in the abduction of Dadiyata, which government agency or persons abduct him then?

Could the Kano State government be responsible for this unholy acts and violation of basic human rights which is the right to a fair hearing when someone is accused? If he is dead, can his corpse be retrieved, and the perpetrators be punished?

The Federal and Kano State government must jointly commence an investigation into the disappearance of Dadiyata and their findings should be made public when concluded.

Adetayo Omotoyosi is a content writer from Lagos and can be followed on Twitter @Omotoyorsii993