Monday, January 12, 2026 - The Nigerian Police have cleared a former Senator representing Adamawa North, Ishaku Abbo, of an alleged rape of a minor, saying investigations found no credible evidence to support the claim.
Police authorities, in a statement made available to
journalists in Abuja on Sunday, said Abbo was exonerated after a thorough
investigation ordered by the Inspector-General of Police, following a petition
submitted in 2025.
Abbo was accused through a petition written by Mrs Zainab
Mohammed and addressed to the IGP in September 2025 of allegedly raping Khadija
Mohammed at his Katampe Extension residence in Abuja on Sunday, June 29, 2025.
On the strength of the petition, police authorities said
they swung into action, mandating four specialised units—the Force Criminal
Investigation Department Gender Unit, the National Cybercrime Centre, the
Intelligence Tactical Unit and the Medical Unit—to investigate the allegation.
A report of the investigation signed by the Deputy
Commissioner of Police, Oki Rita Oyintare, of the FCID, and dated October 23,
2025, said the essential elements of the alleged offence were lacking.
“After an extensive investigation in this case, it was
discovered that the essential elements of this offence are lacking as a result
of the time frame between the date of the commission of the alleged offence and
the time it was reported for police investigation,” the report stated.
It added, “That scene of crime/execution of search warrant
was conducted on 3rd October 2025, but unfortunately, all ingredients to
support the offence were not seen, probably because of the time frame from 29th
June 2025 to 3rd October 2025.”
According to the report, the alleged survivor was taken to
Deda Hospital by her parents on July 10, 2025, while the case was officially
reported to the police on September 15, 2025.
“The medical report from Deda Hospital dated 11th July 2025
indicates that the survivor’s hymen was not breached, meaning the alleged
victim is still a virgin as of 10th July 2025, about 11 days after the alleged
rape,” the report said.
The police also noted that the complainant allegedly
attempted to preserve documents from Nafisi’s phone but failed to submit the
device for forensic analysis, after which the phone was reportedly flashed and
no data was recovered.
The report further stated that Patience Jesse, who opened
the door for Nafisa and Khadija on June 29, 2025, “did not witness any rape of
the survivor.”
Investigators said the alleged incident was said to have
occurred between 2pm and 4pm at Abbo’s Katampe residence, noting that only
three people—Patience Jesse, Nafisa Mohammed and the senator—were present in
the house at the time.
“The security man at the gate, Patience Jesse, Nafisa
Mohammed and Senator Ishaku Elisha Abbo were the only persons at home during
the time of visitation by Khadija and Nafisa. All three said there was no
rape,” the report stated.
The report also disclosed that Abbo had accused Khadija
Mohammed and Nafisa Mohammed Chigli of stealing his wife’s gold jewellery on
June 30, 2025, a matter he reportedly reported at the Dawaki Police Station on
July 16, 2025.
It added that medical screening tests for hepatitis B and C,
syphilis and HIV were negative. At the same time, nothing incriminating was
found during the execution of a search warrant at the senator’s residence on
October 3, 2025.
When contacted on Sunday, Abbo declined to comment
extensively on the matter.
“God will expose all evil plans against me and reward the
doers according to their deeds,” he said.
In October 2025, Abbo dismissed reports that he was arrested
by the police over the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl, describing the
claims as “a smear campaign by political enemies.”
The reports, which went viral, alleged that he was in police
custody after a teenager’s mother accused him of sexually assaulting her
daughter at his Katampe residence on June 29, 2025.
Abbo was first elected to the Senate in 2019 on the platform
of the Peoples Democratic Party before defecting to the All Progressives
Congress in 2020.
He was re-elected in 2023 but was later sacked by the Court
of Appeal, which declared the PDP candidate, Amos Yohanna, as the duly elected
senator for Adamawa North.
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