Abducted 300-level student dies in bandits’ camp despite ransom payment

A heartbreaking tragedy unfolded in Zamfara State as Zarah Abubakar Shehu, a 21-year-old student of Federal University Gusau, died in a bandits’ camp four months after being kidnapped, despite her family paying a ransom for her release.

According to counter-insurgency expert Zagozola Mama, Zarah, a 300-level student, was abducted along with her two siblings from their home in the Damba area of Gusau in the early hours of Sunday, November 3, 2024.

The kidnappers initially demanded ₦35 million for their release but later reduced the amount to ₦10 million after negotiations.

Despite receiving the ransom, the bandits refused to free Zarah and her siblings, insisting on an additional payment of four motorcycles (Boza) and four cartons of engine oil.

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After months of desperate efforts, the family managed to gather the items. But when the kidnappers’ leader was informed, he contacted his men, who delivered the devastating news — Zarah had died and was buried two days earlier.

The young student, the only daughter of her mother, endured four months in captivity before her tragic death, leaving her family and community in mourning.