Former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Chidi Odinkalu, has alleged that former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai plotted to have him abducted in 2019 following a public disagreement over security claims.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, Odinkalu said he narrowly avoided being taken into custody after receiving a warning from a police officer who was privy to the alleged plan.
“I barely escaped abduction by Nasir El-Rufai because a police officer who was privy to the conversations decided to put a call through to me,” he said. “I have not seen that police officer till date, although he retired about two years ago. He decided to call me to inform me that they were going to move to abduct me.”
Odinkalu explained that the episode followed his public rejection of El-Rufai’s claim that 66 Fulanis were killed extrajudicially in Kajuru shortly before the 2019 presidential election.
“The Friday before the presidential election in 2019, Nasir El-Rufai had gone on TV to say that 66 Fulanis had been killed extrajudicially in Kajuru. It turned out to be criminally false. The police commissioner said so. NEMA said so. Eventually, I believe the SSS also said so. But what happened? Nasir El-Rufai doubled down on that claim,” he stated.
He disclosed that he was later provided with proof that an application had been made before a magistrate in Kaduna to procure a warrant for his arrest.
“This was the moment when I was provided with proof that an application had been made before a magistrate in Kaduna to procure a warrant for my arrest,” he said, adding that the charges bordered on incitement and spreading false information.
“When you say 66 people, particularly 66 Fulanis, have been killed in any part of northern Nigeria, you can be sure that reprisals will follow with certainty, if not brutality. So I went on air and denounced that claim, and for that, Nasir wanted me abducted,” Odinkalu added…..See More
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