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The family of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, on Monday alleged that officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) took him into custody after proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja, despite existing court directives regarding his detention arrangement.
The development followed a court sitting presided over by Justice Joyce AbdulMalik, where El-Rufai was granted bail before the matter was adjourned. According to family members, the former governor was expected to remain in the custody of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in line with earlier court orders.
Speaking outside the DSS headquarters in Abuja, El-Rufai’s second wife, Hasiat el-Rufai, described the situation as distressing, alleging that the family had faced persistent intimidation and surveillance during the former governor’s detention.
“We now live in constant fear. Every day we get a threat, DSS is coming to raid your house, ICPC is coming to raid your house, police are coming to raid your house. You are being followed. Our phones are tapped,” she said.
She explained that after the morning court session, El-Rufai was briefly moved to the DSS facility but objected, maintaining that subsisting Kaduna court orders directed that he remain with the ICPC.
Quoting the former governor, she said: “I am not a furniture to be moved.”
According to her, El-Rufai was later returned to ICPC custody before allegedly being brought back to the DSS facility after the afternoon proceedings. She stated that, as of the time she addressed journalists, he had declined to leave the vehicle transporting him.
Hasiat further alleged that El-Rufai, who she said had spent 91 days in custody, had been denied access to his personal doctors despite a Kaduna High Court order granting him unrestricted access to legal and medical support.
“When you see a doctor and you run tests, you are expected to see the doctor back so that he explains what the problem is. He was denied access to the doctor,” she said.
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The family called for what it described as compliance with existing court orders, including El-Rufai’s return to ICPC custody, restoration of access to his physicians and an end to what it termed psychological pressure on the former governor and his relatives.
Also reacting, El-Rufai’s son and member of the House of Representatives, Bello el-Rufai, questioned the bail conditions and alleged that the legal process was politically driven.
“Who keeps a person for 91 days? Why were the terms of the bail so stringent that it is practically impossible for anybody to meet?” he asked.
Similarly, Dr Uche Dialla, Director-General of the El-Rufai Support Group Association, argued that repeatedly moving the former governor between agencies amounted to psychological pressure.
“Torture is not just physical torture… Anything other than taking him back there would be deliberately torturing him,” Dialla said.
Senator Lawal Adamu, representing Kaduna Central, also called for El-Rufai’s release, noting that the former governor voluntarily returned to Nigeria after being invited by anti-graft authorities.
“He was outside this country. He was invited by the ICPC, and he flew all the way from Cairo back to Nigeria to submit himself,” the senator said.
However, security sources later told Vanguard that following consultations among legal representatives involved in the matter, El-Rufai had been returned to ICPC custody as of Monday evening.
