A former governor of Zamfara State and senator representing Zamfara West, Abdulaziz Yari, is being grilled by operatives of the Department of State Services. The reason for his detention and interrogation is not clear yet.

According to a source close to the lawmaker, Yari reported at the office of the secret police after plenary on Thursday.

The source claimed that he escorted the lawmaker to the DSS office to honour its invitation.

“Senator Yari is still in the DSS custody, but he should be out soon in sha ’Allah. He went to their office himself after the plenary. I escorted him there and he has been there since then,” the source said.

He, however, did not disclose why the lawmaker was invited by the security agency.

Peoples Gazette, an online publication, had earlier reported that Yari was arrested by the secret police after receiving a call from the director-general, Yusuf Bichi, to report at the DSS headquarters for an urgent discussion.

When our correspondent tried to reach the lawmaker on Saturday, his mobile phone indicated that it was switched off.

Yari went against the All Progressives Congress zoning arrangement by contesting the Senate presidency with the party’s choice, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who eventually emerged victorious in the election for the president of the upper legislative chamber.

Attempts to get a confirmation of the lawmaker’s detention from the DSS were not successful as the mobile telephone of its spokesman, Dr Peter Afunaya, did not connect.