Former Minister Denies Involvement in Student's Death
Isa Pantami, Nigeria's former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has strongly denied allegations linking him to the death of a student at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) in Bauchi state. The controversy resurfaced on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, November 24, 2025, when user @escobo123456 accused the former minister of involvement in the student's killing.
Social Media Allegations and Pantami's Response
In a detailed response posted on his verified X account on Tuesday night, November 25, 2025, Pantami categorically stated: "I have never killed or directed anyone to kill anyone in my life. Either directly or indirectly." The former minister challenged his accuser to provide concrete evidence and verifiable personal details so he could pursue legal action against what he described as "100% untrue" allegations.
Pantami specifically addressed the accuser's reliance on artificial intelligence tools like Grok, noting that "AI that you depend on get input from the available information online. It could be wrong many times." He emphasized that if the accuser was confident in their claims, they should take the matter to court rather than making unsubstantiated social media posts.
Historical Context and Previous Controversies
The allegations reference an incident that reportedly occurred on December 9, 2004, when Pantami served as chief imam at ATBU's mosque. According to Professor Samuel Achi, a former Industrial Chemistry lecturer at Kaduna State University, his 24-year-old son Sunday Achi was allegedly strangled by Muslim students at the university mosque.
Professor Achi claimed his son, who was a 400-level Architecture student and leader of the Evangelical Church Winning All Ministry students' fellowship, was killed over allegations of distributing tracts containing blasphemous content. The grieving father stated he retrieved his son's remains with the intervention of then-governors of Bauchi and Kaduna states.
This is not the first time Pantami has faced controversy. In April 2021, the former minister faced intense scrutiny when reports emerged suggesting he was on the United States terror watchlist due to his past views on al-Qaeda. Although Pantami denied these reports and secured a retraction and apology from the publishing newspaper, historical evidence of his previous extremist views surfaced online during that period.
Pantami has since publicly recanted his old views, stating he is a changed person. Throughout these controversies, the former minister and his allies have consistently maintained that the allegations are "not true," and no court has ever directly linked him to the student's killing.
Pantami worked at ATBU as a lecturer in information technology from 2004 to 2014, holding various positions including graduate assistant, assistant lecturer, and Lecturer I before moving to the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia in 2014. The late former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed him as a minister in 2019.
