By Sunday Ani
More than 40 special detectives from the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbedokun monitoring team have intensified the search to arrest Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf’s spokesperson, Sanusi Bature Dawakin-Tofa.
The officers, who were deployed from Abuja to arrest Dawakin-Tofa on the instruction of the acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, were said to have been lodged at Tahir Guest Palace since the last two weeks to execute the mandate.
Ganduje had petitioned the IGP over the controversy surrounding his suspension from his Ganduje ward in Dawakin-Tofa Local Government Area of Kano State, accusing the Governor’s spokesperson, who is from his constituency, of orchestrating his political downfalls.
Family sources told journalists on Tuesday that the team of detectives in plain clothes was noticed mounting surveillance around Dawakin-Tofa’s residence on Monday as part of ground move to carry out their assignment.
One of the members of the family lamented that the secret police ransacked the residence more than five times, scaring members of Dawakin-Tofa’s family, including his wife and children and creating apprehension in the neighbourhood.
The officers have been on the trail for Dawakin-Tofa’s arrest for two weeks, despite an order of the court restraining the IGP, the Department of State Service (DSS), the Commissioner of Police (CP) Kano and other security agencies from arresting and or harassing him.
Justice Amina Adamu Aliyu of the Kano State High Court, last week, granted an ex parte application, preventing further manhunt of Dawakin-Tofa pending the hearing and determination of the substantive matter on his fundamental rights slated for January 22, 2025.
The animosity between Dawakin-Tofa and Ganduje dated back to nine years ago, specifically in 2015, when Ganduje, as governor-elect, reportedly ordered Dawakin-Tofa’s arrest over his opposition during the gubernatorial election.
In the latest harassment, Ganduje was said to have petitioned the IGP, accusing the Governor’s aide of being the brain behind his suspension by the APC Ganduje ward executives a few months ago.
Consequently, a team of 40 police officers from the IGP’s Monitoring Unit was reportedly mobilised to Kano with the sole aim of apprehending the governor’s spokesperson.
Efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO) were unsuccessful, as calls and text messages to his phone were unanswered.