Rising arrest of Kano gov’s critics worrisome -Amnesty Int’l

Amnesty International has expressed concern over what it described as a disturbing pattern of arrests, detention and harassment of individuals in Kano State for criticising Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

The rights group, in a post on its verified Facebook page on Wednesday, said the Department of State Services (DSS) has been at the forefront of the clampdown, often “inviting” or detaining citizens whose only offence was expressing dissenting views.

According to Amnesty, the trend is creating a climate of fear and shrinking civic space in the state.

Among the cases documented by the group is that of Abba Ibrahim Hussain, a law student at Northwest University, who was allegedly abducted by armed DSS operatives from his residence after criticizing the governor.

“He remains in detention and risks missing his ongoing examinations. Similarly, Aminu Warkal, a social media influencer, was detained for five hours over allegations of cyberbullying the governor,” Amnesty said.

It also reported that another critic, Samir Hanga, was summoned by the DSS for questioning after making critical remarks about the governor, while Abdulmajid Danbilki Kwamanda was arrested two weeks ago and reportedly pressured to withdraw his criticism.

The group further noted that one Saifullahi Abubakar was detained for producing a satirical TikTok skit about the governor.

Amnesty International described the actions as a clear abuse of power, stressing that criticism of public officials is not a crime.

“No one is above criticism, no matter his status. Arresting critics is unacceptable in a free society,” the group said.

The group added that Nigeria has witnessed a surge in citizens using social media to comment on governance and politics, but it explained that in Kano, such engagement has increasingly attracted reprisals in the form of intimidation, arrests and detention.

Amnesty urged Nigerian authorities to respect and protect the right to freedom of expression, warning that the repression in Kano undermines democratic values and threatens civic participation.

As of the time of filing this report, the Kano State government had not reacted to the allegations.