UPDATED: Police, not DSS, arrested varsity student on Aisha Buhari’s order

By KEMI KASUMU

From the foregoing, The DEFENDER can, therefore, conclude that claim by the online newspapers that the student was arrested by the DSS is FALSE. Aminu Muhammad is currently in the custody of the police in Abuja for arraignment over an allegation of defamation.

Against the news in circulation about the arrest of a final-year student of the Federal University of Dutse, Jigawa State, Aminu Muhammad, purportedly by operatives of the Department of State Service (DSS), our investigation has revealed that even though there was an arrest but, definitely, not by the DSS.

Agents of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) did carry out the arrest and they acted on the directive of Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs Aisha Buhari, over a Twitter post the Bauchi-born university final year student made about her.

From our careful study of all available information, facts available to The DEFENDER are that the 23-year-old Muhammad, in truth, had tweeted several months back, precisely in June, during the strike of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) but was arrested earlier this month of November.

In the post, Aminu Muhammad had said in Hausa Language, “Su Mama anci kudin talakawa ankoshi”.

The tweet, accompanied by a photograph of Aisha Buhari, loosely translates to mean, “Mama has eaten poor people’s money and is now full”.

Claim of arrest

Claim of the boy’s arrest, according to our media sources, was contained in a post apparently seeking help for his freedom.

It reads, “We Seek Justice For Aminu Adamu Muhammed, Taken Away From Federal University Dutse On Thursday 8th November, 2022 By Suspected Security Operatives From Aso Rock[sic].”

“Aminu Is 23yrs Old, A Final Year Student Of Environmental Management And Toxicology At FUD Jigawa State, With Out Prior Knowledge Of School Authority, Taken Away By Security Operatives To Aso Rock Over His Statement Targeted First Lady Aisha Buhari. Aminu’s Sudden Disappearance Came To The Father’s Notice When One Of His Friend (School Mate) From The University Called Him To Inform Him Of Not Seeing Aminu For Five Days In The School. Other Source From School Said Aminu Was Forcefully Taken Around 12 O’clock Pm By Suspected To Be Security Operatives[sic].

“Aminu Said After Been Beaten Mercilessly By Security Before First Lady, Was Later Taken To Unknown Location In Abuja Not A Police Station, For One week Before He Was Allowed To Called His Father Adamu Shalele Azare, A Retired Bauchi State Civil Servant[sic].

“Father Of Aminu Expresses Sadness Over The Action Of Security Operatives As Well As Nasty Decision Of First Lady[sic].

“Below Is The Comment Made By Aminu Adamu Shalele On His Tweeter Handle Sometimes In June During ASUU Strike, Which Warrants His Castigation[sic].

“This Statement Is Attached With Pictures Of First Lady Of 2015 And That Of Today[sic]. We Call For Justice To Young Environmentalist Who’ll Write His Final Examination On December 5th[sic].

Twist in media reports

Some  online newspapers (excluding The DEFENDER) had reported what was clearly stated as, “Taken Away By Security Operatives To Aso Rock Over His Statement Targeted First Lady Aisha Buhari”, to mean officials of Department of State Service (DSS) arrested the student.

PRNigeria, which took steps to verify the claims from a security personnel at the University, returned with report that the student was, in actual fact, arrested by plain cloth police operatives and did not say DSS.

The security guard said, “The student was picked up by police operatives on November 18th at about 3pm at the hostel of the Federal University of Dutse called Shekarau Anguwan.”

The media source further revealed that Muhammad, a student of Environmental Management and Toxicology at the University, will be writing his exams on December 5, 2022.

Amnesty International Abuja has strongly condemned the arrest and called for his immediate release. They vowed that all those who subjected the young student to torture and other human rights violations will be brought to justice.

‘Post result of frustration’

Speaking to Freedom Radio, his uncle, Baba Shehu said that Muhammad made the post out of frustration when Aisha Buhari posted pictures of her children who graduated from a foreign university amidst the strike.

“Aminu phoned his father and told him what happened to him. He told his father that he was arrested, beaten up by the police, and taken to the first lady.

“Aminu told us that he was arrested because of a post about Aisha Buhari…we agree that Aminu was wrong but she should seek justice through proper means…” Baba Shehu reportedly said.

A top police officer, who does not want his name mentioned, said that Muhammad was arrested and handed over to the police command in the Federal Capital Territory, PRNigeria reported.

“The suspect in our custody was arrested for an offence he committed and he will soon be arraigned in an Abuja court,” the senior police officer said.

Generally, the facts are that the university student, Aminu Adamu Muhammad made the tweet in question against the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, that his uncle regretted he did such a wrong albeit due to frustration following the First Lady posting of photographs of her children graduating from university abroad amidst lingering ASUU strike at home in Nigeria, a country governed by her husband, and that he was arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Police and not officials of the DSS.

He will soon be arraigned in the court for an alleged defamation, it was further gathered.

From the foregoing, The DEFENDER can, therefore, conclude that claim by the online newspapers that the student was arrested by the DSS is FALSE. Aminu Muhammad is currently in the custody of the police in Abuja for arraignment over an allegation of defamation.

Divided opinions

Although there has been no official statement by the police, some respondents who took to social media are divided over the matter.

Where few of them are posting “FreeAminu” banners just like the Amnesty International, a vast majority of others are saying it is high time people who make allegations against anybody on social media, particularly on Twitter, be made to prove their claims.

This, The DEFENDER gathered Monday morning, will bring sanity to the public space in the country for peace, unity and development to come to fruition.

One of them, said, “Anybody who has made an allegation against anyone should be able to prove, else, there will be anger and hate in the land because he or she that has wrongly been dangerously accused or alleged, and no justice is done, will never want to trust the country again, God forbid.

“Although, it is not official yet because the police has not spoken about the arrest, what is not in doubt is that, Aminu Muhammad made a post bearing such dangerous allegations against the personality of the first Lady, and so, if nothing has been done by security agencies, something must now be done about it.

“In a nutshell, I and other sensible Nigerians will stand with the police and other security and intelligence related agencies in effort by them to sanitise the polity of all these insanities.

“With the continued revelations of how these things; Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp social media imposed on us by the West are manipulated, whereas they, themselves, know what they are doing with those platforms, Nigerians, who do not want to face the wrath of God, must not join any struggle that seeks to stand with falsehoods via those platforms against our security agencies over such evils,” he said.