Serious tensions are mounting over the continued detention of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, as his family raises the alarm over alleged rights violations by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). His son, Mohammed Bello, has publicly called out the anti-graft agency, accusing officials of deliberately cutting off the former governor from vital medical attention and family care.
The family claims that ICPC officials flagrantly disobeyed a standing court order by blocking El-Rufai’s personal physician from seeing him. The doctor had reportedly arrived at the Abuja detention facility on Friday afternoon to discuss critical results of recent medical tests conducted on the former governor. Instead of being granted entry, the medical professional was turned away by operatives who insisted on a written clearance from the ICPC chairman.
The situation reportedly escalated later that evening when the former governor’s second wife, Aichatou, arrived at the facility to deliver his dinner. Family sources revealed to Zoyols News that she was abruptly turned back by guards who cited an impromptu 6:30 PM curfew for food deliveries. Bello described this sudden restriction as an arbitrary administrative tactic designed to frustrate the family and weaken his father’s spirit.
This development adds a fresh layer of controversy to El-Rufai’s prolonged custody, which began on February 19 over allegations of financial misconduct during his eight-year tenure as governor. While the legal battles surrounding the investigation continue to unfold, his family maintains that the current treatment he is receiving crosses the line from lawful detention into outright intimidation.
Insisting that no state institution is above the law, the El-Rufai family has demanded immediate compliance with the court’s directives regarding his health care. They emphasized that while they are not fighting the legal process itself, they will no longer tolerate the systemic denial of basic human rights and medical access guaranteed to him under the constitution.
