Four aides of Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, including his spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin Tofa, have been released on bail by the Department of State Services (DSS) following a petition filed by the Kwankwasiyya Movement.
Dawakin Tofa disclosed in a Facebook post that he, alongside Salisu Yahaya Hotoro, Ibrahim Adam and Nuhu Dambazau, were detained for about four hours by the DSS in Kano before being granted bail on self-recognition.
He added that the matter is expected to proceed to court, with their arraignment scheduled for Tuesday.
The governor’s spokesperson linked his inclusion in the petition to a song he commissioned from APC praise singer, Dauda Kahutu Rarara, which allegedly contained remarks targeting Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
While acknowledging the gravity of the situation, Dawakin Tofa expressed willingness to seek a resolution before legal proceedings commence.
Despite clarification by the Kwankwasiyya Movement that it initiated the petition, he insisted that it was Kwankwaso who personally pursued the case against them.
Also reacting, one of the aides and Kano APC Youth Leader, Salisu Hotoro, suggested that the group was being singled out despite wider online attacks involving multiple actors.
“So, now anyone we take to court, there won’t be any problem, right?,” Hotoro wrote on his Facebook page.
The Kwankwasiyya Movement had accused the aides of cybercrime, intimidation and defamation against its leaders and members in its petition to the DSS.
According to the document, individuals allegedly targeted include Kwankwaso, former Deputy Governor Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, Kano Central Senator Rufai Sani Hanga and his son, Muhammad Samir Hanga.
