By Senator Shehu Buba, who represents Bauchi South and once chaired the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, is fighting off a new round of allegations tying him to suspected bandits, accusations that have followed him since 2024 and that he has consistently rejected.
The latest accusation
The newest claims came from a resident identified only as “Hassan,” who told social media influencer D English Alhaji Media that the senator was among politicians allegedly aiding bandits operating in the area. Hassan went further, alleging that individuals connected to bandit kingpin Dogo Gide had been brought to Abuja for specialized training, facilitated, he claimed, by an aide to the senator.
Buba pushed back hard in an interview with Albarka Radio in Bauchi on Thursday, accusing Hassan of being sponsored by rival politicians to damage his reputation.
The senator said he had already filed a formal petition with the Inspector General of Police and that four suspects tied to the campaign against him had been arrested and would soon be charged.
According to Buba, Hassan, whom he described as the main suspect, has since fled to the Republic of Niger, where he continues running live broadcasts allegedly funded by political opponents. “Those sponsoring him cannot change destiny; if God says I will be, nobody can stop me using social media propaganda against me,” Buba said.
Furthermore, it was reported that the Force Public Relations Officer Ani Iniedu did not respond to calls or messages, and both Buba’s phone and that of his media aide, Sabo Muhammad, were switched off for hours on Friday. The Police Public Relations Officer in Bauchi State, Nafiu Habib, said the command had no formal complaint before it to act on. “We have not received any petition by anyone on the said allegation, so we don’t have a stake in the matter,” he said.
An ally speaks up, but calls for scrutiny too
Mukhtar Gwarzo, Managing Director of Nixon Energy and Nixon Telecoms and a friend of Buba’s for more than two decades, defended the senator’s character while still pushing for a full investigation.
“I have known him in quiet moments and in difficult seasons. I have watched his character under pressure. I know the values he carries, the discipline he lives by, and the quiet integrity that has guided his life,” Gwarzo said, arguing that Buba’s past role overseeing national security matters wouldn’t have been entrusted to someone capable of the conduct alleged.
Still, he was careful not to frame his support as a shield against scrutiny. “I am not asking anyone to close their eyes. I am not asking for silence. Let every allegation be thoroughly investigated. Let the DSS speak clearly. Let the National Assembly examine the matter with the seriousness it deserves. Let the Hajj authorities explain the processes that were followed,” he said, adding that anyone found culpable should face full legal consequences.
A pattern that goes back to 2024
This isn’t the first time Buba’s name has surfaced in connection with banditry allegations. Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed sent a petition to President Tinubu dated September 19, 2024, alleging that Buba, through an aide named Yahaya Ibrahim, registered and funded suspected Zamfara bandit Abubakar Idris and one Zainab Gado for Hajj travel.
Idris was later arrested by the Department of State Services, which also opened a probe into the senator.
According to the governor’s letter, DSS operatives visited the Bauchi State Muslims Pilgrims Welfare Board during 2024 pilgrimage operations and requested the e-passports of both Idris and Gado, who were registered as intending pilgrims.
Gado’s passport had already been released, and she had travelled for Hajj; Idris’s passport was handed to the DSS, and he was subsequently detained on suspicion of involvement in banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara State.
Records at the Pilgrims Welfare Board reportedly showed both individuals were registered through Ibrahim, described as a senior legislative aide to Buba. The governor called the development “deeply worrisome as it suggests the senator’s complicity in supporting, enabling and empowering bandits to cause mayhem and go unscathed.”
A DSS spokesperson told reporters that findings from its investigation “would be published at the appropriate time.” Attempts to reach the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mukhtar Gidado, and the state Commissioner for Information, Usman Shehu, for comment were unsuccessful.
Former Minister for Youth and Sport Solomon Dalung has since called for an independent review, urging the DSS to clarify its investigation’s status and the National Assembly to consider its own probe given Buba’s former oversight role in security matters.
He also asked Hajj authorities to explain how Idris came to be registered and sponsored for the pilgrimage in the first place.
“Political office, parliamentary status or personal connections should provide no shield against accountability,” Dalung said, arguing the senator should be either publicly cleared or held accountable depending on what the evidence shows.
The Bello Turji controversy
A separate allegation surfaced in 2025, when Sahara Reporters published a report accusing Buba of brokering an alleged peace deal with wanted terror kingpin Bello Turji, a claim that stirred controversy over his position on the broader fight against terrorism.
Buba’s legal team responded by petitioning the Force Criminal Investigation Department, accusing a group of individuals of criminal conspiracy, defamation, cyberstalking and bullying against the senator.
In a petition dated September 9, 2025, addressed to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Buba’s counsel, Musa Ogah, named Hassan alongside Kibanna AA Square, Jabir Kaura, Ishaq Abubakar (Major) and others as responsible for what it described as a coordinated campaign against the senator’s reputation, one it suspected was funded by politicians uneasy about Buba’s growing influence in Bauchi South.
The petition alleged that Hassan was the first to target Buba online, accusing him via Facebook and WhatsApp of paying a Kaduna cleric, identified as Assadus Sunna, in “Ghana-must-go” bags meant for bandits, and of handing out motorcycles to bandits rather than to constituents as claimed.
The petition asked police to trace and identify whoever was funding the alleged campaign, warning that inaction would only embolden further attacks on public officeholders.
(Punch)
