SaharaReporters learnt that Major was picked up by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) at the Maraba-Nyanya junction in Abuja.
The Nigeria Police Force has arrested a popular TikTok content creator, Ishaq Abubakar Major, in Abuja over a viral video in which he accused Senator Shehu Buba, representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, of having ties to bandit groups terrorising parts of the country.
Bellnews learnt that Major was picked up by operatives of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) at the Maraba-Nyanya junction in Abuja.
He is currently being detained at the FCID headquarters in Abuja, though the police have yet to issue any official statement on his arrest.
The development followed a series of videos and posts by Major on TikTok, where he repeatedly alleged that Senator Buba was compromised and unfit for public office because of his alleged connections with armed criminal gangs.
Bellnews in August reported that Senator Shehu Umar Buba, Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, faced mounting criticism over a series of controversies, including an alleged peace deal with wanted terror kingpin Bello Turji, allegations of fuelling religious tensions in Plateau State, and past claims of sponsoring wanted bandits to the Hajj pilgrimage.
The senator came under fire in Plateau State for allegedly stoking sectarian conflict between two Islamic sects in Jos.
Sources said that Senator Buba is funding the construction of a multi-million-naira Juma’at mosque in the Zinariya neighbourhood, just one house away from the long-established Abu Huraira Juma’at Mosque, which belongs to the Dariqa Sufi Brotherhood.
The new mosque, reportedly being built for the Jama’atul Izalatul Bidi’a Wa’ikamatus Sunnah faction led by Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, has sparked fears of violent clashes between the two groups, given their history of combative sermons.
Further heightening tensions, the report alleges that Senator Buba purchased and demolished a church in the area to build the mosque — a move condemned by members of the Christian community as provocative and disrespectful to their faith.
Senator Buba is also facing pushback over his involvement in a proposed peace treaty with Bello Turji, a notorious armed bandit accused of mass killings, kidnappings, rape, and village burnings across the North-West.
The deal, reportedly facilitated through Kaduna-based cleric Sheikh Musa Asadus-Sunnah, has been widely condemned by Muslim clerics who argue that Turji should face justice rather than be pardoned.
Prominent northern preacher, Sheikh Murtala Asadah, has publicly opposed the peace initiative, accusing the government of ethnic bias and warning that the move could cost President Bola Tinubu political support in the North ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Constituents in Bauchi South also criticised the senator for prioritising the Jos mosque project while leaving an unfinished mosque in his home constituency of Toro.
Commenting on this, in one of the viral clips sighted by Bellnews, the arrested TikToker declared: “This newspaper (SaharaReporters) described Senator Buba as a senator that has a relationship with bandits.
“What I want people to understand is that Senator Shehu Buba is a senator from Bauchi. There is no newspaper that would publish false allegations against him without taking them to court, because he has the money to do so, and he also has ambition of governorship.
“But because he knows the allegations are not false, that is why he has not gone to court. Up until now, he has not spoken about it because he knows that if he speaks, evidence will be brought forward, and it will affect his ambition to become the Governor of Bauchi State.”