Senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, Shehu Buba, has rejected fresh allegations linking him to banditry, describing the claims circulating on social media as a coordinated campaign aimed at damaging his reputation.
The controversy intensified after videos circulated online by a social media content creator known as D English Alhaji, purportedly showing suspected bandit kingpins visiting Buba’s residence in Bauchi. The allegations were subsequently reinforced by a resident identified as Hassan, who accused the senator of being among politicians allegedly supporting bandit activities in the region.
Hassan further alleged that individuals associated with wanted bandit leader Dogo Gide were taken to Abuja for specialised training, allegedly with the assistance of one of Buba’s aides.
Buba, however, has strongly denied the allegations, saying the videos being used to support the claims were manipulated and did not establish any connection between him and criminal groups.
In a statement titled “Setting the Record Straight: My Response to Fabricated Videos, False Allegations and a Sustained Campaign of Disinformation,” the senator said he had subjected the material to fact-checking and discovered that unrelated video clips had been combined to create a misleading narrative.
According to Buba, one of the clips showed Kaduna-based Hajj returnees who visited his residence in 2023, while another showed a different group of people displaying passports. He also pointed to differences in the languages spoken in the two clips as evidence that they were unrelated.
An independent fact-check by PRNigeria similarly reported that the footage showing men in traditional attire was from a 2023 visit by two Kaduna-based businessmen, Alhaji Isa Usman and Alhaji Abubakar Bula, whom it said had no known history of involvement in banditry or terrorism. The fact-check noted that the video itself did not establish that the men were bandits or that the residence belonged to a senator.
The latest allegations are not the first time Buba has been accused of having links with bandits. Similar claims have followed the senator since 2024, all of which he has consistently rejected.
Buba said his previous position as chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence had made him reluctant to respond publicly to every allegation against him. He argued that intelligence and security responsibilities sometimes require officials to maintain confidentiality because publicly disclosing certain operations could compromise sources or ongoing interventions.
The senator, who now chairs the Senate Committee on Livestock and Animal Husbandry, also urged anyone with credible evidence of criminal conduct against him to submit it to the appropriate security agencies rather than relying on social media allegations.
The controversy comes as Buba, who has moved to the Peoples Redemption Party, seeks the party’s governorship ticket in Bauchi State ahead of the 2027 election. He has alleged that the renewed campaign against him is politically motivated and linked to efforts to undermine his political ambitions.
With the allegations continuing to circulate online, the dispute has increasingly highlighted the difficulty of separating genuine security concerns from politically motivated claims and manipulated digital content.
