Bandits who abducted six Islamic clerics in Zamfara State are demanding N30 million for their release, even as the driver seized alongside them has regained his freedom after his family paid N2 million ransom.
The clerics were kidnapped last Saturday along the Dakko-Damri feeder road in Bakura Local Government Area while travelling to Talata Mafara for a meeting.
A resident of Dakko village, Malam Muhammad Ibrahim, who confirmed the development, said eight people were abducted in total — five Imams, their driver, and two others returning from a farm.
He said the bandits demanded N300,000 and two 25-litre jerrycans of petrol each for the two farm returnees, while N2 million was collected for the driver, who was released Saturday and has reunited with his family in Kwatsama village. Preparations, he added, are now underway to raise the N30 million demanded for the Imams.
“According to reliable information, a serving senator from Zamfara State has pledged to pay the ransom to free the Imams. We hope this won’t take long,” Ibrahim said.
He appealed to authorities to intensify rescue efforts, citing concern for the elderly clerics’ health and the risk of harsh treatment in captivity.
A son of one of the abducted Imams, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the driver’s release had lifted the families’ hopes for the clerics’ freedom, while confirming the N30 million demand and the families’ hope of meeting the bandits’ deadline.
The six clerics are: 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.
They were ambushed at Gidan Bature village in Damri Ward while travelling to Talata Mafara to attend a meeting at the residence of former Zamfara governor and serving Senator Abdulaziz Yari. A source said the clerics had taken feeder roads — a common precaution as travellers increasingly avoid major highways plagued by banditry — and that the attackers appeared to have prior knowledge of their route.
Malam Hassan Mai-Fanta, Chief Imam of Izala 2nd Mosque in Shinkafi, who also attended the meeting but left earlier than the abducted clerics, described the incident as unfortunate. “The bandits spare nobody. If they could have the audacity to kidnap Islamic scholars, then who will be spared?” he said, urging government action to secure their safe return.
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