by Mohammed Bello Doka
16 May, 2026
The disappearance of Abubakar Idris, the university lecturer and outspoken social media activist known to millions as Dadiyata, is more than just a tragedy. It is a mirror held up to the harsh, unforgiving reality that millions of Nigerians live with every single day. On August 2, 2019, gunmen pulled him from his car in the Barnawa area of Kaduna State, right in front of his wife, and drove him away into the unknown. Nearly seven years later, his fate remains a mystery, a gaping wound that refuses to heal. But for those of us who walk the same path as Dadiyata, who use our voices to critique power, this is not a distant story. It is a chilling reminder of the price we might pay for speaking truth to power. I speak not merely as a journalist but as a writer and political critic who has been insulted, threatened, and abused. I believe Dadiyata is more than a missing person; he is a brother, a comrade in the struggle for accountability. None of us choose this dangerous calling; destiny thrusts it upon us. But we persist because a nation without critics, without people willing to hold the government to account, is a nation worse than a war zone. It is a place devoid of freedom, basic rights, and meaningful development. Therefore, as a people, we must do whatever is necessary to find a definitive conclusion to this crime and ensure punishment is meted out to the perpetrators.
On one side of this fight stands Dadiyata, his grieving family, and the good people of Nigeria who believe in justice. This side seeks only the truth—what happened to a husband and father who was simply exercising his rights? On the other side are the shadowy figures: the perpetrators who silenced a critic and the political actors who now seek to use his memory as a tool to score cheap political points. This is the central tension of the Dadiyata affair. Is the renewed interest a genuine quest for answers, or is it a cynical manipulation of a human tragedy for electoral advantage? The evidence is damning.
The recent flurry of activity looks less like a genuine search for truth and more like a calculated political distraction aimed at targeting opponents. Consider the timing. After years of silence, the case explodes onto the national stage just months before the 2027 general election. The key allegation came from Muhammad Musa Kamarawa, a former aide to ex-Zamfara Governor and current Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle. Kamarawa alleged that two senior police officers, CSP Hussaini Gimba and CSP Hassan Gimba, threatened to kill him “as they killed Dadiyata and Saminu S/Fada Gusau amongst others in my presence at Operations Yaki Kaduna”. Following this, the Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, ordered an investigation. While this is a significant step, the credibility of the witness is politically compromised. Furthermore, the finger-pointing has become a spectacle. Former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai, a target of Dadiyata’s criticism, has repeatedly denied involvement, insisting that Dadiyata’s real issues were with the Kano State government under Abdullahi Ganduje. Unsurprisingly, Ganduje has dismissed these claims as “reckless, unfounded, and a clear attempt to shift responsibility”. Rabiu Kwankwaso, Dadiyata’s political mentor and a leading presidential candidate, has predictably welcomed the probe, calling it “long overdue”. The narrative has become a political football, kicked back and forth between powerful elites who see a path to power by exploiting a man’s disappearance. It is a distraction, pure and simple. While these titans trade accusations, the fundamental question of Dadiyata’s whereabouts is relegated to a side note.
Nigerians must resist the urge to fall into this trap. We cannot allow this case to be sensationalized and politicized to the point where the truth becomes irrelevant. The dangers of this are profound. If the search for Dadiyata is hijacked by political interests, the real perpetrators will escape justice. The case will become another footnote in Nigeria’s long history of unpunished crimes, reinforcing the dangerous precedent that critics can be eliminated with impunity. It will embolden the security apparatus and political thugs, knowing that public outrage can be easily manipulated and dispersed. Moreover, it will further erode the already fragile trust between the citizens and the institutions meant to protect them.
And we cannot rely on the government to solve this on its own. If we look at the broader picture of insecurity in Nigeria, the government’s response has been, to put it mildly, abysmal. As we speak today, bandits are abducting and killing people across the country with alarming regularity. Data from SBM Intelligence revealed that between July 2024 and June 2025, at least 4,722 people were kidnapped in 997 incidents. The situation has only worsened. The Global Peace Index currently ranks Nigeria as the 16th most dangerous country in the world. By March 2026, Nigeria had jumped to the fourth position on the global terrorism index. In the first three months of 2026 alone, more than 1,000 Nigerians were abducted, including a horrifying mass abduction of 166 worshippers from three churches in Kaduna State on January 18, 2026. The government has done basically nothing to reverse this terrifying trend. Things are only getting worse. To expect the same authorities to suddenly develop a laser focus on one man’s disappearance, without public pressure, is naive.
So, what is to be done? The Nigerian public must become active participants in the search for justice. We cannot be passive consumers of political drama. First, we must demand transparency in the IGP's investigation. The public has a right to know what the Police Monitoring Unit finds regarding the allegations against CSP Hussaini Gimba and CSP Hassan Gimba. Secondly, we must use our collective voice to keep the pressure on. Sign petitions from human rights organizations like Amnesty International, which has classified Dadiyata’s case as an “enforced disappearance.” Share verified information on social media, not the politically charged rumors circulated by the camps of Bello Matawalle, Kamarawa, Ganduje, or Kwankwaso. Amplify the voice of Dadiyata’s wife, Khadija, who has pleaded for her husband to be returned “dead or alive.” Thirdly, civil society organizations must be empowered to conduct independent tracking and forensic analysis. The government may have abandoned its duty, but a coalition of rights groups, lawyers, and journalists can act as a check on power. Finally, we must engage with the National Assembly. Our elected representatives have the power to summon the IGP and other security chiefs to answer why, after seven years, there is no closure. We must vote not for personalities but for those who commit to solving security cases like this one.
The search for Dadiyata is a test. It is a test of whether Nigeria can transcend its toxic election-season politics to deliver justice for one of its own. For the sake of his family, for the safety of every critic who dares to speak, and for the soul of this nation, we must pass this test. We must ensure that his disappearance is not just a political weapon, but a catalyst for genuine, lasting change.
Mohammed Bello Doka can be reached via [email protected]
Abuja Network News
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