The Zamfara State Government has accused the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, of using the Office of the National Security Adviser to harass and intimidate opposition figures in the state, allegations the minister’s aide has dismissed as baseless.
The government raised the alarm following the alleged abduction of a technical aide to Governor Dauda Lawal, Mr Saleem Abubakar, in Abuja.
In a statement issued on Thursday by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Idris, the government claimed that Abubakar, a Technical Assistant in the governor’s office, was taken by operatives believed to be from a special forces unit linked to the NSA.
According to the statement, the alleged abduction was carried out without a warrant or any known legal procedure.
“The most unfortunate and worrying part of the abduction of Saleem Abubakar is that it was syndicated through the office of the NSA by the Minister of State for Defence,” the statement read.
The government described the incident as “shocking and distressing,” alleging that Abubakar was moved between multiple locations to conceal his whereabouts and warning that such actions threaten the neutrality of Nigeria’s security institutions.
“This is a perilous precedent that all Nigerians must strongly condemn,” Idris said, calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene urgently and rein in the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The state government insisted that if Abubakar had committed any offence, he should be charged in court in line with due process.
Reacting to the allegations, Matawalle’s aide, Alhaji Suleiman Shinkafi, denied any wrongdoing, insisting that neither the minister nor any federal security office was targeting political opponents in Zamfara State.
“There is no opposition in Zamfara State. The PDP is the ruling party, while the APC is the opposition,” Shinkafi said. “I don’t think Matawalle is using the NSA or any other office to harass PDP members. Rather, it is PDP members who are harassing the opposition.”
Shinkafi further alleged that APC members have faced intimidation since the 2023 governorship election, which he described as flawed.
“When they hijacked and snatched our votes in 2023 and forced themselves into government, I left Gusau. From that time till today, I have not freely stayed in Gusau,” he said.
He added that Governor Lawal had filed multiple cases against him and other APC members, with about 16 party members currently in custody, which he described as politically motivated actions.
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