Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Nigerian Army has moved swiftly to dismiss reports that a group of Islamic scholars were abducted at the residence of former Zamfara State Governor and Senator representing Zamfara West, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area. But in correcting the record, the military also confirmed a disturbing truth: six Juma’at Imams were indeed abducted on Saturday, September 12, 2026, while travelling from the Sububu forest axis in Bakura Local Government Area towards Talata Mafara. The clarification, issued on Sunday by the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations for the 8 Division and Sector 2 of Operation FANSAN YAMMA, Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba, described the reports linking the abduction to Yari’s residence as misleading and entirely false.
“We wish to categorically refute the claim and set the record straight that no cleric was abducted at Senator Yari’s residence,” Osoba said in the statement. According to the military’s intelligence, the victims were travelling from the Sububu forest axis in Bakura Local Government Area en route to Talata Mafara when they were intercepted. The police account, provided by the Zamfara State Police Command spokesperson, DSP Yazid Abubakar, offered further detail: the attackers intercepted the clerics’ vehicle along the Dakko–Damri feeder road in Bakura Local Government Area at about 11:30 a.m. The Divisional Police Officer in Bakura led officers to the scene, and police personnel alongside other security agencies commenced a search for the victims.
The discrepancy between the initial reports and the military’s clarification matters. The earlier accounts, which circulated widely on social media and were reported by several outlets, suggested that the clerics had been abducted after attending a prayer session at Senator Yari’s residence. According to Daily Trust, the clerics had gathered at Yari’s home for a special prayer session organised for peace and the success of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid. The newspaper reported that the abduction occurred about three kilometres from Damri village, at Gidan Suleiman Bature in Gonar Sarkin Forest. Yari, a former governor and current senator, was recently reappointed as the coordinator of Tinubu’s re-election campaign, a role that has placed him at the centre of political activity in the North-West. The initial framing of the abduction as an attack on a gathering at his residence carried political implications that the Army’s clarification has now partially neutralised.
But the correction does not change the fundamental reality: six religious leaders are in the hands of kidnappers. Premium Times reported that the police statement did not disclose what the clerics were travelling for, and Osoba told the publication that the military had not confirmed whether the abducted people were clerics. He said the clerics who gathered at Yari’s residence for prayers were unharmed. “Nothing happened to those ones,” he said. The victims of the abduction, whoever they are, remain in captivity.
The Army said troops, working in collaboration with other security agencies and local intelligence networks, had intensified operations in the area to locate and rescue the abducted persons. Osoba urged members of the public to exercise restraint and avoid circulating sensational or unverified reports capable of causing panic or compromising ongoing military operations. “Members of the public are advised to disregard sensationalised narratives and unverified information capable of creating unnecessary panic or compromising ongoing tactical operations,” he said. He also called on residents and community leaders to remain vigilant and provide security agencies with timely, credible and actionable information that could assist in the safe recovery of the victims.
The incident has exposed the fragile security situation along the forest corridors of Zamfara State, where armed groups have exploited difficult terrain and vulnerable routes to carry out kidnappings. The Sububu forest axis, in particular, has become a notorious transit point for bandits moving between Bakura, Talata Mafara and other local government areas. The military’s statement noted that the development came amid continued security challenges in parts of Zamfara State, where criminal elements have exploited forest corridors to carry out kidnappings and attacks. The Army reiterated the commitment of Headquarters 8 Division and Sector 2 of Operation FANSAN YAMMA to protecting civilians and tackling criminal elements operating across the North-West.
For the families of the six abducted Imams, the military’s clarification does little to ease their anguish. Their loved ones are still missing, and the clock is ticking. The Army has urged the public to provide credible information that could assist in the rescue operation, and the police have said their men have intensified a rescue mission to ensure the safe return of the victims. But the question that lingers is the one that the military’s statement did not address: how did six religious leaders, travelling on a major route in broad daylight, fall into the hands of kidnappers who have continued to operate with impunity across Zamfara State? The Army has set the record straight on where the abduction did not happen. It has not yet explained how it happened, or what is being done to bring the victims home.
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