The Department of State Services has denied being in possession of Abubakar Idris known widely as Dadiyata.
In a statement, spokesperson of the agency, Peter Afunanya, said that the activist was not in their custody as claimed by media reports.
The service also refuted the allegation that over 50 suspects were being held under excruciating conditions and routinely tortured.
The statement reads, “That Idris was taken away from his house by some armed men does not suggest that those men were DSS staff.
“It was expected that media houses carrying that story should have properly conducted their investigations before holding the Service responsible for the acts it did not commit.
“For the sake of emphasis, the DSS has no reason to deny its arrest and detention of suspects if actually it carried out such operations.”
Recall that Idris, a critic of Kano State Government, was seized from his home in Kaduna on August 1, 2019 by some persons believed to be DSS operatives.
He is a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State, and a supporter of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso.
