Nigerian gunmen kill influential monarch over ransom

A police officer stops a car at a check point to check the activities of criminals and unknown gunmen ahead of the February 25 presidential election at Awka in Anambra State, southeast Nigeria, on February 16, 2023. FILE PHOTO/Agence France-Presse

KANO, Nigeria — Gunmen in northwestern Nigeria have killed an influential traditional ruler they kidnapped three weeks ago over delay in ransom payment, days after he appeared in a video pleading for his release, a palace official told AFP Wednesday.

Isa Bawa, the emir of Gobir in Sokoto state, was abducted along with his son on his way to his native town of Sabon Birni near the border with Niger after attending a meeting in regional capital Sokoto.

Several states in northwestern and central Nigeria have for years been terrorized by bandits who raid villages from their forest hideouts, kill and abduct residents as well as burn homes after looting them.

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“His Highness was shot dead by his captors yesterday (Tuesday) while negotiations were ongoing to pay the ransom they demanded,” Shuaibu Gwanda Gobir told AFP.

“The people sent to negotiate the payment called and informed us of the murder of the emir after seeing his dead body in the bandits’ camp,” said Gobir, a member of the council of kingmakers in Gobir emirate.

The bandits had given a Tuesday deadline for the ransom payment and threatened to kill the 73-year-old monarch if the money was not paid, Gobir said.

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The killing of the traditional ruler underscores the security challenge the criminal gangs pose in the region where they have displaced scores of farming and herding communities, disrupting agriculture and threatening food security.

“His body is yet to be released by the bandits. Our priority now is to secure the release of his son who is still in captivity,” Gobir said.

Police in Sokoto did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the killing.

Nigeria’s many traditional rulers have no constitutional powers and rely on regional governments for funding but are important cultural custodians wielding enormous influence over their subjects.

Their patronage can be key at elections and in winning public support for government policies.

Boko Haram jihadists have also killed a traditional ruler in the northeast and made a failed assassination attempt on another.

In May 2014 Boko Haram gunmen killed Idrissa Timta, the emir of Gwoza in northeast Borno state, in an ambush while another monarch travelling with him managed to escape.

In February 2013, Boko Haram opened fire on the car of the late emir of Kano Ado Bayero as he was leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, killing three of his guards.