Three Weeks On, Buhari’s Community Head Still Held Captive

Exactly three weeks since the Magajin Garin Daura, Musa Umar, was kidnapped by gunmen at his residence in Daura, President Muhammadu Buhari’s home-town, no news of his whereabouts has been heard yet.

Mr Umar was whisked away by four gunmen in Daura town on May 1.

The gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, arrived Daura town at about 7 p.m., when Mr Umar had just returned from the evening Magrib prayer.

According to a witness, the kidnappers came in a Peugeot 406 saloon car shooting sporadically in the air. They grabbed Mr Umar and forced him into the car, then drove away.

After the gunmen left, the Daura council chairman, Abba Mato, and hundreds of sympathisers came to Mr Umar’s residence, to discuss the incident.

 RESIDENTS ARE CONCERNED

Meanwhile residents of Daura are still in shock since the incident.

Mamman Lawal, a witness and resident of Daura, said people are still in shock. “Let me tell you, we are not happy here. The Magajin Garin Daura is a prominent personality that should not take this long in the hands of Kidnappers. When they took him away, we all were not happy but we had hoped he will return the next day. This is exactly three weeks and nothing has been done.” “He is a popular man and people are always around him. Now they are all missing him. Nobody knows if he is alive or not because nobody is saying anything including the security operatives. Maybe they (police) are being tactical.”

Also, Mohammed Abdullahi, a resident, said prayer sessions are being held for his safe return. “There has been prayer sessions in Daura and even surrounding towns begging God to intervene. But for us here, we are not happy at all.”

When contacted, the Katsina Police Public Relations Officer, Gambo Isa, said that the police are still investigating and have made several arrests.
“We are investigating and we have also made some arrests. I cannot give you the number of arrests so it does not jeopardise the work in progress.”

Mr Isa said that the police also ‘recoveries’ since the search began “and are making progress.”