The Bauchi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Nuhu Zaki, has been accused of abducting his 10-year-old biological daughter, Zainab.
The Nation reports that Zaki is embroiled in a custody battle with Zainab’s maternal grandmother, Ikilima Manu Soro.
Soro had petitioned the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun, over alleged abduction of her granddaughter, Zainab, by the Commissioner.
The petition, written by Chris Umar, SAN and Co, accused Zaki of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and disobedience of a court order.
According to the petition, Zaki divorced Iklima when she was seven months pregnant and abandoned his daughter until she was 10 years old.
The petitioner alleges that Zaki, with the help of two unknown persons who reportedly disguised as Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and police officers, abducted Zainab from her school bus on January 21, 2025.
This act, the petition claims, was in blatant disobedience of the court order and existing laws.
Zaki, however, denied the allegations, stating that he has the right to his daughter both religiously and constitutionally.
He claimed to have obtained judgments in his favour from three different courts but was denied access to his daughter.
Zaki asserts that his daughter chose to live with him and her siblings after her mother remarried.
He insisted that he was only enforcing court judgments granting him custody of his daughter.
But the mother’s lawyers are urging the IGP to investigate the matter discreetly and ensure that Zaki does not escape justice.
They also requested that charges be proffered against him to serve as a deterrent to others.
Reacting to the petition filed to the IGP in an interview with journalists at his residence on Saturday, the Commissioner for Water Resources wondered how a father could be accused of abducting his own legitimate child over whom he holds both religious and constitutional rights.
According to him, after Zainab’s mother remarried, the young girl expressed a desire to live with her father.
Zaki said further that his other children also pleaded on her behalf, emphasizing her longing to be with her biological family.
Zaki recalled that his marriage to Zainab’s mother was conducted under Islamic law but eventually broke down due to irreconcilable differences with her family.
“It was not my intention to divorce my wife, because we loved each other. But pressure from her family, especially her two brothers and their mother, made it impossible to continue, forcing her to leave,” he said.
The commissioner commended the efforts of the late Manu Soro, Zainab’s grandfather, and other family members who tried to reconcile the couple, even after their first divorce.
However, he claimed that persistent opposition from certain family members frustrated these efforts.
Zaki alleged that despite securing favorable judgments from three different courts, he was repeatedly denied access to his daughter.
“Now that her mother is remarried and my daughter is no longer comfortable staying with her maternal grandmother, she chose to live with me and her siblings.
What’s wrong with that? They’re making unnecessary trouble for no just cause,” he stated.
He added that he did not kidnap his daughter, saying “I only enforced the judgments of the courts and the Shariah Commission.
“Zainab Nuhu Zaki is my daughter, and I have claimed her.
“She is now in boarding school with three of her sisters, and nothing will change that.”
He also vowed to protect all his 29 children within the bounds of the law and Islamic principles, regardless of who is involved.
Zaki dismissed the abduction petition filed by Ikilima Manu Soro as baseless, unfounded and unfortunate, urging the family to stop pursuing what he described as a futile case.
Meanwhile, the matter is currently before the Sharia Court of Appeal, and the State High Court has reportedly barred the police from getting involved, citing it as a matrimonial issue.
