Bandits have demanded N30 million ransom for the release of six Islamic clerics abducted last Saturday in Bakura Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
The clerics were kidnapped along the Dakko-Damri feeder road while travelling to Talata Mafara to attend a meeting at the residence of former Zamfara State governor and serving Senator Abdulaziz Yari.
A resident of Dakko village, Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, said eight people were abducted during the incident, including the clerics, their driver and two other persons who were returning from a farm.
According to him, the driver was released on Saturday after his family paid N2 million to the abductors.
He said the two persons returning from the farm were also reportedly released after their families paid N300,000 each and provided two 25-litre jerrycans of petrol.
“The driver was released today (Saturday) and has since reunited with his family in Kwatsama village. We also heard that preparations are being made for the payment of the N30 million ransom to free the abducted Imams,” Ibrahim said.
He added that a serving senator from Zamfara State had reportedly offered to pay the ransom for the release of the clerics.
Ibrahim, however, appealed to the government to intensify efforts to secure their immediate release, citing concerns over their age and the conditions in which they may be held.
“The Imams are aged and their stay in the bandits’ den alone could make their health conditions deteriorate. The government should therefore hasten efforts to free them,” he said.
A son of one of the abducted clerics, who spoke anonymously, said the release of the driver had given the families renewed hope that their relatives would soon regain their freedom.
He confirmed that the abductors had demanded N30 million for the six clerics and said the families were working towards meeting the ransom demand before the deadline given by the bandits.
The abducted clerics were identified as Malam Muhammadu Shehu, Chief Imam of Dakko Juma’at Mosque; Malam Murtala Dakko, Deputy Imam of the mosque; Malam Muhammad Yahuza, Chief Imam of Dogon Madacci 1st Juma’at Mosque; Malam Magawata Abdullahi, Chief Imam of Dogon Madacci 2nd Juma’at Mosque; Malam Bala Hogun, Chief Imam of Hogun Juma’at Mosque; and Malam Muhammad Tasi’u, Chief Imam of Kwatsama Juma’at Mosque.
The clerics were reportedly ambushed at Gidan Bature village in Damri Ward while using the feeder road from the Bakura axis towards Talata Mafara.
A source familiar with the incident said travellers had increasingly abandoned major highways because of repeated attacks and were using alternative routes.
The source said the clerics travelled through feeder roads from Lambar Bakura to Dambi and Sabon Garin Dambi before heading towards Talata Mafara.
“You know that in an effort to escape bandits, travellers have deserted major roads. We now resort to feeder roads for safety. Unfortunately for the clerics, the bandits staged an ambush along the Dakko-Damri feeder road and abducted them,” the source said.
The source also suspected that the attackers may have known the route the clerics were taking.
Malam Hassan Mai-Fanta, Chief Imam of Izala 2nd Mosque in Shinkafi, who attended the same meeting, said he had left Talata Mafara before the clerics were abducted.
“I also attended the meeting at Senator Abdulaziz Yari’s residence, but those of us from Shinkafi Local Government left Talata Mafara town earlier than the abducted scholars. I only heard about their abduction yesterday,” he said.
Mai-Fanta urged the authorities to secure the release of the clerics, expressing concern that the incident demonstrated the risks faced by travellers and religious leaders in the area.
