I Felt Bad About It – Dadiyata’s Wife Reacts To Bashir El-Rufai’s Tweet Mocking Husband Disappearance

Kadijah, the wife of social media influencer and lecturer Idris Abubakar, widely known as Dadiyata, has voiced her grief over what she described as Bashir El-Rufai’s mockery of her husband’s disappearance. Bashir is the son of former Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai.

She made the remarks in a video interview with ambassador-designate Reno Omokri, which was released on his X handle on Thursday.

Responding to a question about how she felt regarding a 2019 tweet by Bashir El-Rufai, Kadijah said, “I felt bad about it. I can’t even explain…”

The emotion-laden video reportedly garnered over 86,000 impressions within hours of its release.

Four months after Dadiyata’s disappearance in 2019, Mr Bashir El-Rufai had tweeted: “Those same clowns who encourage him when he was creating false stories and capitalising on lies that could endanger lives solely for political ends are the same individuals trending hashtags asking, ‘#WhereisDadiyata.’

“Dangerous lies in the public space have consequences.”

Kadijah said the comment deeply hurt her, describing the period as one of immense emotional pain.

Dadiyata, a lecturer at the Federal University Dutsin-Ma, was abducted on August 2, 2019, by unidentified armed men as he drove into his residence in Barnawa, Kaduna State.

According to his wife, she watched from a window as gunmen intercepted him while he alighted from his car in their compound.

The father of two, Hassana, 12, and Fatima, 6, has not been seen since the incident.

Reputed to be a fierce political commentator, Dadiyata’s disappearance sparked widespread outrage, with several socio-political commentators accusing the administration of Nasir El-Rufai of complicity – an allegation the government denied.

The case resurfaced on February 14, 2026, during an interview on ARISE TV, where El-Rufai addressed longstanding allegations linking his government to the disappearance.

He maintained that Dadiyata was not a critic of the Kaduna State Government but rather a vocal critic of former Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.

According to El-Rufai, “A policeman posted from Kano to Ekiti State allegedly confessed to someone that they were sent from Kano to abduct Dadiyata and that the officer was worried about that. That is all I know.”

He insisted that the incident had no connection with his administration, arguing that Kaduna State authorities were unaware of any conflict between Dadiyata and the Kano State Government.

El-Rufai also challenged Amnesty International’s characterisation of Dadiyata as a “fierce critic” of his government, urging researchers to examine the activist’s social media timeline.

In the viral interview, Omokri assured Kadijah of justice and expressed hope for Dadiyata’s safe return if he is still alive.

“We pray that one day, he will come back,” Kadijah said quietly.