Fresh details have emerged regarding the reported arrest and detention of Maryam Bukar, a lady alleged to have had a romantic relationship with President Bola Tinubu
Insiders told DAILY NIGERIAN that Ms Bukar is detained at a military facility for eight months without access to lawyers and family allegedly on the orders of Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle.
On February 19, an online news report published by Sahara Reporters accused the National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu of detaining Ms Bukar over an alleged intimate video call with the president.
Security sources familiar with the matter however clarified to Daily Nigerian that the NSA was not behind the arrest of the lady. “I can tell you authoritatively that the NSA has no knowledge of her arrest. Some government officials are name-dropping Ribadu in order to oppress people and cover their tracks,” said a source.
Although the screenrecord of the video call was allegedly taken before Mr Tinubu becomes president, informed sources told Daily Nigerian that the minister was unhappy with the lady for posting the video.
According to the sources, Mr Matawalle allegedly arranged Ms Bukar’s arrest through a special military squad.
The sources further claimed that the style of the arrest and detention mirrors previous instances in which Ms Matawalle ordered the arrest and detention of critics and political opponents from Zamfara State.
“Recall that Matawalle has at various times ordered arbitrary arrest and detention of his critics and political opponents from Zamfara State using his position as minister of state for Defence,” one source said.
The sources also compared Ms Bukar’s situation to the recent arrest of Saleem Abubakar, a technical aide to the Zamfara governor.
“When Saleem Abubakar was arrested, even Zamfara State Government initially suspected Ribadu. But it later appeared that it was Matawalle,” said the source.
When contacted, Mr Matawalle’s media aide, Ahmad Ibrahim Dan-Wudil, denied the allegations, saying his principal wasn’t involved and knows nothing about the arrest.
“We’re not even aware of this, and we knew nothing about it”, Mr Dan-Wudil added.
