According to a report by Nigerian Tribune on Saturday, June 6, 2026, Nura Hassan recounted the circumstances surrounding the abduction and eventual killing of his colleague, Mustapha Maru, by bandits in Zamfara State.
Maru was reportedly traveling from Maru Village to Anka on May 4 after spending the weekend with his family. Accompanying him was a newly admitted student, Summayah Abubakar, who was heading to school for the first time as an SS1 student. Their vehicle was ambushed by armed bandits, who opened fire on the passengers.
The attack reportedly claimed the life of the student after a bullet struck her head, while the driver was also severely wounded. The bandits then abducted several passengers, including Maru, and took them into the forest.
According to reports, the kidnappers initially demanded N50 million and five motorcycles from Maru’s family before later reducing the ransom to N3 million. Despite the payment, the abductors eventually informed the family on May 26 that Maru had been killed.
Speaking about how he learned of the abduction, Hassan said he had spoken with Maru shortly before the incident and was later contacted by the teacher’s wife, who was in distress after reaching her husband’s phone and hearing the voice of a bandit.
According to him, “The next call after the conversation was from Mustapha’s wife, who was crying hysterically. I asked her, ‘Amina, what is the problem?’ She replied that she just called her husband to know if he had got to school but, instead, heard a voice of someone who said he was a bandit and informed her that her husband was in captivity.”
Hassan said he decided to call the number himself to verify the information. After briefly speaking with Maru under poor network conditions, the phone was taken by one of the abductors.
According to him, “As I called, the bandit gave Mustapha the phone, but I couldn’t hear him very well because the network was bad. I called back, and the bandit collected the phone from Mustapha and said, ‘It’s not Mustapha. It’s me, a bandit. Mustapha is in our captivity now. I just recited ‘Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.’ The bandit asked, ‘Why are you reciting this prayer when I already told you he’s with us?’ Then I just ended the call,” Hassan recalled.”
Leave a Reply