A senior administrator at the College of Education, Maru, Malam Bashar Sani, has been killed by suspected bandits in Zamfara State.
Investigations revealed that Sani had spent at least ₦25.7 million over the years to secure the release of family members who had been kidnapped by criminal networks, before he was ultimately killed by bandits.
Family members and community sources said the cycle of attacks on the family began several years ago when bandits abducted Sani’s two wives from their residence in Tsohon Tasha, Maru Local Government Area. In a bid to free them, Sani reportedly paid ₦2 million.
Months later, the kidnappers returned and abducted Sani’s younger brother, Hassan Sani, forcing the family into another round of ransom negotiations. Hassan confirmed that his brother paid ₦3.5 million for his release.
“In addition to the ₦3.5 million he paid for my freedom, the kidnappers also demanded airtime recharge cards and mobile phones, which he also facilitated and delivered,” Hassan said.
The repeated attacks left the family deeply traumatised, compelling Malam Bashar Sani to move his household to a more populated area in search of safety.
“My brother and his family moved to a house close to our relatives at Shiyyar ‘Yan Hudu in Maru town, hoping he would be safe from these marauders, but unfortunately, he could not escape them,” Hassan said.
For about 18 months, the family experienced relative calm before bandits traced their new location and struck again.
During the raid, the attackers abducted Malam Bashar Sani, one of his wives, who had previously been kidnapped and his daughter, along with several other residents of the neighbourhood.
Hassan revealed that the bandits also killed the wife of a policeman and abducted her five children during the same attack.
The kidnappers demanded ₦20 million for the release of Sani and his family members. According to the family, the ransom was eventually paid in full.
In addition to the cash payment, the abductors insisted on receiving motorcycles, airtime recharge cards worth ₦200,000, and four mobile phones, which were delivered to them.
Despite these concessions, the criminals continued to escalate their demands.
“They later demanded 15 motorcycles, but after negotiations they reduced it to three motorcycles, which we also bought and delivered to them,” Hassan said.
He added that once the additional motorcycles were delivered, the bandits instructed the family to return home and await further instructions on the release of the hostages.
“Unknown to us, my brother had already been killed at that time,” he said.
The kidnappers later instructed the family to proceed to Gidan Kano village in Maradun Local Government Area to retrieve their relatives.
On arrival, they discovered his wife, daughter, and other freed hostages, but Malam Bashar Sani was missing.
“When we asked about him, his wife told us that he had already died while in captivity,” Hassan revealed.
Further investigations revealed that Malam Bashar Sani died in custody.
