Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, has said that the state government will take up the case of Abubakar Idris (popularly known as Dadiyata), the missing social media critic and member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement.
Dadiyata went missing on August 2, 2019, when unidentified men seized him from his residence in Barnawa neighbourhood of Kaduna State.
Speaking during his inauguration as the new governor of the state, Yusuf (well known as Abba Gida-Gida) also a member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, which forms a major bloc in the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), said the movement and his government would “not forget the case of one of our respected members and supporters, Hon Dadiyata, who was bundled in broad day light by unknown assailants and whisked away.”
The governor rued that for the five years that Dadiyata had been reported missing, nothing has been heard of him.
“Kano State Government will take up the case of Dadiyata with all relevant security agencies in the country so as to rescue him and bring his assailants to justice,” he declared.
Recall that Dadiyata’s disappearance sparked outrage on social media, with many justifying his right to freedom of speech and demanding his release as it was alleged that his disappearance was not unconnected with state actors.
According to the account given by the police, Dadiyata was returning home at about 1a.m. when some armed men breached his house’s security, and took him away in his BMW car.
Until his disappearance, Dadiyata was a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, where he taught History of the English Language.
As a social critic and member of the Kwankwasiyya Movement, he was popular for his frequent denunciation of former Kano state Governor, Umar Ganduje and his policies, as well as general criticism of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government at the federal level.
