Intercepted call proves Ribadu ordered my arrest at Abuja airport, says El-Rufai
By Ishaya Ibrahim
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has alleged that National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu personally ordered his attempted arrest at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, claiming the directive was exposed through an intercepted phone conversation.
Speaking on Arise Television on Friday, El-Rufai said associates tapped Ribadu’s phone, admitting the act is illegal but accusing the government of routinely doing the same to opposition figures. He said during the phone tap, the NSA was heard instructing security operatives to detain him upon arrival from Egypt the previous day.
When asked about his role in the alleged disappearance of a critic, Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Dadiyata, he denied knowledge of what happened to him.
He said Dadiyata was not a critic of Kaduna State but that of Kano, adding that three days after his abduction, a policeman posted from Kano to Ekiti confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano to kidnap Dadiyata.
Dadiyata was whisked away by gunmen from his home in Barnawa, Kaduna State on August 1, 2019.
“Dadiyata is a critic of the Kano government. He was a fierce critic of the Kano state government. He’s from Kano. He lives in Kaduna and lectures at a university in Katsina State.
“It was Ganduje that was his problem. I don’t even know him. We only got a report of Dadiyata’s existence after his family reported to the police that he was abducted. That is the only thing I know, but it was not a problem for Kaduna State,” he said.
