Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The ambush happened in broad daylight, along a highway that has become synonymous with terror. On August 25, 2026, a 14-seater Sokoto State Transport bus carrying passengers from Sokoto to Kano was intercepted by armed bandits along the Tsafe–Magezu axis of Zamfara State. The attackers opened fire, killing two passengers and injuring three others. Four passengers were dragged into the bush, and among them was a 27-year-old English language teacher named Saidu Abubakar. He was not a random traveller. He was on the road because he had been summoned for an urgent assignment by his employer, Hamza Musa Mai Bulawus, the Social Democratic Party’s governorship candidate in Zamfara State.
The Elegant Nurses Forum, a professional body that has consistently spoken out against insecurity, issued a statement on September 12, 2026, demanding Abubakar’s immediate and unconditional release. The forum said it was deeply disturbed by reports that the abductors had seized Abubakar’s phone, retrieved Bulawus’s contact details, and demanded a ransom of N50 million and 10 motorcycles for his release. The demand was later reduced to N10 million. But the forum’s anger was not directed solely at the bandits. It was also directed at the politician who, according to the Youth Rights Campaign, had left the burden of raising the ransom to Abubakar’s struggling family. The YRC, in a statement issued on September 4, accused Bulawus of failing to personally take responsibility for securing his aide’s release and instead directing his Personal Assistant to tell Abubakar’s family members to raise the ransom themselves.
“The Youth Rights Campaign finds it deeply troubling that Saidu Abubakar was not a passer-by who wandered into misfortune,” the group said. “He was travelling specifically because Hamza Musa Bulawus called him for an urgent assignment.” The YRC described the circumstances as imposing a direct moral and practical responsibility on the SDP governorship aspirant to lead efforts to secure Abubakar’s freedom. “It is unacceptable that a man seeking the mandate of the people of Zamfara State as governor would, in the face of this tragedy, distance himself from the plight of a loyal aide and pass the burden of ransom back to Saidu’s struggling family,” the group declared. “Leadership is tested not in comfort but in crisis.”
The Elegant Nurses Forum echoed those sentiments in its own statement, signed by Deputy National Coordinator Akerele Ayodeji S. “We believe that no Nigerian should be left to face such a terrifying ordeal alone,” the forum said. It condemned kidnapping, banditry, and all forms of unlawful deprivation of liberty, stressing that Abubakar remained a young professional whose life and freedom were precious. “He is a young professional, a teacher, a worker and someone’s son, brother, friend and colleague. His family deserves to have him back alive and safe.” The forum appealed directly to the abductors: “Release Saidu and the other captives unharmed. No ransom, grievance or demand can justify taking an innocent person’s life or liberty.”
The abduction has exposed a broader crisis of leadership and accountability. Abubakar was travelling on an assignment for a man who wants to govern Zamfara State, a state that has been at the epicentre of banditry and mass kidnapping for over a decade. The SDP candidate’s alleged decision to distance himself from the crisis has drawn sharp criticism from civil society, with the YRC accusing him of treating his aide’s life as expendable. The group said Bulawus’s handling of the situation would demonstrate the type of leadership he would provide if elected. “It is unacceptable that a man seeking the mandate of the people of Zamfara State as governor would, in the face of this tragedy, distance himself from the plight of a loyal aide and pass the burden of ransom back to Saidu’s struggling family,” the YRC said.
The incident also raises uncomfortable questions about the safety of travellers on Nigeria’s highways. The Sokoto-Kano highway, like many major roads in the North-West, has become a corridor of terror, where armed groups set up roadblocks, ambush vehicles, and abduct passengers with impunity. The YRC questioned the effectiveness of the billions of naira allocated to security at both federal and state levels, particularly the security votes controlled by governors. “Daylight ambushes on public transport, mass kidnappings for ransom, and killings on federal and state highways have become horrifyingly routine under the watch of the All Progressives Congress federal government,” the group said.
The Nurses Forum called on the Zamfara State Government, the Zamfara State Police Command, and relevant federal security agencies to treat the case as an urgent humanitarian and security matter. It urged the authorities to deploy every lawful and effective means to locate Abubakar and the other captives and secure their safe return. It also demanded an investigation into the attack, including the deaths and injuries recorded, and called for those responsible to be arrested and prosecuted. The forum further urged Bulawus to take responsibility for assisting Abubakar’s family, particularly over reports that Abubakar was travelling in response to an urgent assignment from him. “If this account is accurate,” the forum said, “the welfare of an aide who encountered danger while carrying out an assignment should not simply be left to the young man’s family to confront alone.”
As of the time of this report, the Zamfara State Police Command had not issued an official statement on the incident. The SDP candidate, Hamza Musa Mai Bulawus, had also not publicly responded to the allegations. Saidu Abubakar remains in captivity, his fate uncertain, his family waiting, and a nation watching to see whether the men who seek to lead it will stand by those who serve them.
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