(In Nigeria) The Tragic End of Dadiyata: A Six-Year Mystery Unraveled

 

The Tragic End of Dadiyata: A Six-Year Mystery Unraveled On August 2, 2019, Abubakar Idris, a 34-year-old lecturer and social media influencer known as Dadiyata, vanished from his Barnawa home in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Armed men abducted him from his BMW at 1 a.m., leaving his wife, Khadija Ahmed Lame, and their two daughters in shock. No ransom demands emerged, fueling suspicions of a targeted attack due to Dadiyata’s vocal criticism of the All Progressives Congress and powerful figures like former Kano Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. As a supporter of the Kwankwasiyya movement, his fearless social media commentary had earned him enemies, with accusations pointing to the Department of State Services (DSS) and Kaduna State Government, both of which denied involvement.

For six years, Dadiyata’s family clung to hope. Khadija filed a lawsuit against the DSS and police, while Amnesty International and the Peoples Democratic Party demanded answers, amplified by #WhereIsDadiyata campaigns. The Kaduna police, despite transferring the case to State CID, made no progress, and Governor Abba Yusuf’s 2023 pledge to investigate yielded no results. The family endured profound loss, including the death of Dadiyata’s mother in 2022, attributed to grief.

On June 11, 2025, investigative commentator Damilola Adekunle announced on social media that Dadiyata had been killed, following a probe sparked by a ₦10 million reward offered on May 4, 2025. While Adekunle’s findings, reported by The Guardian Nigeria, reignited public outrage, details about perpetrators remain unclear, prompting skepticism. Dadiyata’s death underscores Nigeria’s ongoing crisis of enforced disappearances, leaving his family and supporters demanding justice and transparency.

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