Controversy surrounds alleged arrest of Aisha Buhari’s critic, Aminu Adamu in Jigawa

Controversy has surrounded the alleged arrest of Aminu Adamu, a critic of the wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari.

Although the police have denied arresting Adamu, the Federal University Dutse in Jigawa State confirmed that the student was arrested for making an alleged derogatory post about Mrs Buhari on social media.

The Police Public Relations Officer in Jigawa, ASP Lawal Shiisu told Channels Television that the police got to know about the alleged arrest in the media.

“We only heard that a Federal University Dutse student was arrested in Jigawa. We are not responsible for that and no security agency informed us on the development,” he said.

However, when contacted, the spokesperson for the Federal University Dutse, Abdullahi Anako in a statement confirmed the arrest but disassociated the university from the post he made on Twitter.

According to him, Aminu Adamu made the post while the university was on break and he acted in his capacity not as a student of the Federal University Dutse.

“He was trailed to Dutse and was arrested by an unidentified security personnel. However, the university authorities have spoken to the parent who have already engaged the services of a lawyer to handle the matter and they are hopeful of amicable resolution soon,” he said.

Adamu, a final year student in the Department of Environmental Management and Taxocology, at the Federal University Dutse, Jigawa, was alleged to have made the post criticising Mrs Buhari.

Neither the President’s wife nor the Presidency has reacted to the matter as of press time.

Meanwhile, global rights organisation, Amnesty International has called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of the 23-year-old student.

—For a tweet on the First Lady of Nigeria #Aisha Buhari, #Aminu Muhammed is still held incommunicado since his arrest on 8 November by Nigerian security operatives.
—While unlawfully detained, he was subjected to severe beating and other forms of ill-treatment.
—#FreeAminu now.

— Amnesty International Nigeria (@AmnestyNigeria) November 28, 2022