Bandits have killed the District Head of Kanya in Danko Wasagu area of Kebbi State, Alhaji Isah Daya, two days after they kidnapped him and eight other persons.
The Director of Security at the Cabinet Office, AbdurRahman Usman Zaga, said a team of security personnel found the body of the district head with wound on his head.
He however said that the security agents engaged the bandits in a gunfight and successfully rescued eight other hostages abducted with the deceased.
The director gave the names of the rescued victims as Almustapha Almu, Hajara S. Maikano, Rukayya Isah Daya, Bello Isa Daya, Fa’iza Maikano, Amina Maikano, and Jidah Babangida.
Abubakar explained that the bandits had engaged a security team consisting of the army, police, and local vigilantes, in a gun battle in the Sakaba forest during search and rescue operation for the absucted persons.
Unfortunately, the lifeless body of Alhaji Isah Daya was discovered in the forest, he said, adding that the eight other victims, who were rescued, had been reunited with their families.
Abubakar urged the public to provide relevant information that could help in apprehending those responsible for the death of the district head.
The death of Alhaji Isah Daya in the hands of kidnappers came just over a month after the tragic murder of another traditional ruler, Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, the Sarkin Gobir and District Head of Gatawa in Sokoto State.
Bawa was kidnapped on July 27, 2024, alongside his son, Kabiru Isa, while returning from a meeting at the Sultanate palace in Sokoto.
In a video released by his abductors shortly before his death, the 74-year-old traditional ruler, visibly distressed and in blood-stained clothes, with his hands tied behind his back, pleaded for help from the government and the public, expressing fear that the day the video was shown might be his last.
Those who abducted and killed him after collecting ransom are yet to be apprehended.
