Heavily armed bandits have claimed the lives of two local government officials in Zamfara State a planning director and a ward councillor after abducting them along a notorious stretch of road connecting Jangebe and Talata Mafara.
The ill-fated journey took place on May 18, 2026, when the victims, alongside the Area Revenue Officer for Pilgrims Affairs, set out toward the Talata Mafara Local Government headquarters on official pilgrimage-related business. They never made it.
Five occupants were travelling in the revenue officer’s vehicle when gunmen ambushed them at a well-known danger point on the route. According to a close associate of the deceased who requested anonymity, the village head was shot and killed on the spot after he resisted being taken. The revenue officer, Sama’ila Ladan, sustained a gunshot wound to the hand — the attackers presumed him dead and left him behind. Two other passengers fled into nearby bushes and survived. The Director of Planning, Jamilu Sani, was seized and taken into captivity.
Despite repeated attempts by the council to negotiate his release, the abductors refused all dialogue. The Talata Mafara Local Government Chairman, Hon. Yahaya Yari, disclosed that the bandits issued a chilling ultimatum: any individual taken from Jangebe would be executed, with no ransom accepted under any circumstances. True to their word, both Jamilu Sani and the ward councillor representing Jangebe were subsequently killed.
Yari described the outcome as deeply tragic, saying the killings have plunged the council and surrounding communities into grief.
The incident has laid bare the rapidly deteriorating security conditions in the region. A local resident warned that venturing even three kilometres beyond Jangebe now puts travellers at serious risk. The Mayanchi-Anka-Gummi corridor, once considered a relatively safer alternative, has also grown increasingly perilous. “Once you leave Jangebe, you are largely on your own,” the resident said grimly.
The Zamfara State Police Command, through its spokesperson DSP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed the attack.
Community members are now urgently calling on security agencies and the Zamfara State Government to deploy additional patrols, safeguard key travel routes, and restore a sense of safety to towns and villages that have endured relentless cycles of violence, abduction, and fear.
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