JUST IN: DSS Detains NANS President After Accusing Seyi Tinubu of N100 Million Bribe, Forced to Recant Under Duress

Atiku Abubakar Isah, the factional President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has allegedly been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) following his public accusation that Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, offered him a N100 million bribe to secure his support for the administration’s agenda. Isah, who has reportedly been held in a DSS medical facility in Abuja, is said to have been forced to recant his claims under pressure and blackmail.

The incident stems from a dramatic power struggle within NANS, culminating in a disrupted inauguration ceremony last week where Isah was declared president amid allegations of interference by government-backed factions. Sources told *SaharaReporters* that Isah was arrested shortly after the event and taken into custody, where he has remained since. Though held under the guise of medical care at a DSS hospital on Airport Road in Abuja, insiders claim he is being coerced into silence and submission.

According to one DSS officer who spoke on condition of anonymity, Isah was pressured into signing a retraction letter and was made to pose with a firearm—a photograph allegedly intended to blackmail and discredit him. “He was compelled to write the retraction letter as a condition for his release,” the source said, adding that Isah’s phone was also confiscated during his arrest.

In the letter sighted by our reporter Isah denies ever meeting Seyi Tinubu in Lagos or at The Wells Carlton Hotel in Abuja. He describes his earlier statements as being based on misinformation and claims he was manipulated by political actors to defame Tinubu and his allies. The letter goes on to issue apologies to President Tinubu, Seyi Tinubu, the Minister of Youth Development Ayodele Olawande, and the Nigerian public, stating: “To err is human, and to forgive is divine.”

This letter, however, contradicts Isah’s previous, highly detailed public account. In an earlier video and interviews, Isah said he was invited to Lagos by Tinubu and Olawande, where he was offered a N100 million bribe to steer NANS in support of the federal government. He said he rejected the offer on principle, insisting that student leadership must remain independent and speak truth to power.

Isah’s refusal was allegedly met with a violent response. He claimed that on April 15, he was abducted, stripped naked, and brutally beaten in front of the Managing Director of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), who was allegedly present to record a forced resignation. According to Isah, the perpetrators warned him that the assault video would be circulated and that even his murder could be covered up through high-level influence. “They told me that even if they killed me, nothing would happen. Seyi Tinubu would order a cover-up,” he said.

He also accused Ladoja Olusola, a rival NANS faction leader reportedly backed by Seyi Tinubu, of personally assaulting him during the chaotic inauguration. “Ladoja hit me with his leg directly on my face,” Isah said, adding that he now fears he may lose his eyesight and is awaiting results from a brain scan after being struck with bottles and machetes.

Despite the violence and threats, Isah said he refused to back down, returning to the inauguration venue where he was declared president. However, the ceremony itself was disorganized and marred by apparent interference. “The MC was told to start without any protocol. It was all rushed,” he said.

In his earlier statement, Isah condemned Seyi Tinubu as a negative role model for Nigerian youth and warned of the consequences of allowing him to rise politically. “The worst thing that can happen to Nigeria is for Seyi Tinubu to become governor of Lagos State,” he said. “He has no shame, no character.”

He further alleged that key presidential aides were aware of the video showing his assault. “Even the Secretary to the Minister of Defence said he saw my naked video. It’s on his phone,” Isah claimed.

Civil society organizations and student groups are now demanding an independent investigation into the circumstances of Isah’s detention, the alleged coercion, and the broader implications for student activism and freedom of expression in Nigeria. The DSS has yet to issue an official response.

The allegations against Seyi Tinubu—though now formally retracted by Isah—have added to growing public scrutiny over the involvement of political elites in student union politics, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic space and the weaponization of state institutions against dissent.