Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The devastating confirmation has come: Alhaji Muhammadu Mai Barga Besse, the immediate former All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman of Koko/Besse Local Government Area in Kebbi State, has died in captivity, shattering the last vestiges of hope that either of the two elderly men seen in the now-infamous videos from the Birnin Gwari forest would ever reunite with their families. His death, which sources indicate occurred within the past 48 hours, marks a horrifying culmination to a kidnapping saga that had gripped the nation and exposed the brutal reality of life inside the bandit enclaves that have turned vast swaths of northwestern Nigeria into a killing field. It also confirms the worst fears of Nigerians who had watched the viral footage of the two men—visibly weak, distressed, and pleading for medical help—only to now learn that both have perished without ever seeing freedom again.
The double tragedy has sent shockwaves through Kebbi State and beyond, with the deaths of Alhaji Mai Barga Besse and the Islamic cleric, Alhaj Muhammad Maibarga, leaving two families shattered and raising painful, unanswerable questions about the effectiveness of the security response to the kidnapping epidemic plaguing the region. The cleric, a respected leader of the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah Wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) in Koko-Besse, was the first to succumb, with the Kebbi State Police Command confirming his death on June 9, 2026, after he reportedly succumbed to illness and harsh conditions in the bandits’ den. At the time, authorities and community leaders held out a sliver of hope for the former APC chairman, but those hopes have now been cruelly extinguished.
The abduction occurred during a violent raid in Koko-Besse, with the two men taken to a forest area believed to be around the Birnin Gwari axis, a known stronghold for heavily armed criminal gangs operating across Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger states. The situation gained national attention after disturbing videos surfaced on social media around June 4, 2026. In the footage, the two elderly men appeared exhausted and visibly distressed, with one of the captives lamenting his deteriorating health and appealing for urgent medical assistance. The former APC chairman, in a desperate plea, described how both men were ill and had been forced to trek long distances through the forest despite their age and medical conditions. He also painted a grim picture of their captivity, revealing that they shared the environment with dangerous reptiles and that he had narrowly escaped being bitten by a snake.
The deaths of these two men have added a tragic new chapter to Nigeria’s security crisis, exposing the widening gap between official assurances of safety and the grim realities on the ground. The kidnapping attracted national attention partly because Alhaji Mai Barga Besse, before his abduction, had publicly campaigned for and praised the security achievements of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Days later, the viral videos emerged showing the politician and his fellow captive stripped, exhausted, and appealing for intervention from a forest prison controlled by heavily armed abductors. The images triggered a wave of reactions across social media, where critics described the development as a cruel collision between political rhetoric and criminal reality.
The Kebbi State Police Command, which had earlier confirmed the cleric’s death, has yet to issue an official statement on the former chairman's passing. However, community leaders and residents of Koko-Besse have already begun mourning, with many expressing profound grief and outrage. For the family of Alhaji Mai Barga Besse, the confirmation of his death has ended weeks of agonising uncertainty, replacing hope with the finality of loss. For the broader community, his death—alongside that of the cleric—represents a devastating blow and a stark reminder of the human cost of the region's unrelenting insecurity.
The JIBWIS chapter in Koko-Besse had earlier organised a funeral prayer in absentia, known as Salatul Jana’izah Ga’ib, for the cleric at the entrance of the residence of the Sarkin Koko, as his body was never recovered from the bandits' enclave. Similar prayers are now expected for the former APC chairman, whose remains also remain in the hands of his captors, inaccessible to his family and community.
As authorities continue their investigations, the fate of the two men serves as a grim testament to the growing humanitarian toll of kidnappings in northwestern Nigeria. The deaths have renewed calls for stronger security operations to tackle banditry and secure the release of the many others still being held hostage in the region's vast forests. For the families of Alhaji Muhammadu Mai Barga Besse and Alhaj Muhammad Maibarga, however, no amount of security reform or political rhetoric can bring back their loved ones.
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