Six imams abducted in Zamfara after attending a prayer gathering hosted by former governor Abdul’aziz Yari have triggered a rescue operation, with security agencies offering differing accounts of where the clerics were seized.
The clerics were Juma’at imams from Bakura and Talata Mafara local government areas. They were linked to a special prayer session at the Talata Mafara residence of Senator Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari on Saturday, 12 September.
Yari, a former Zamfara governor and Director-General of President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election campaign council, had invited about 2,933 imams from across the state to pray for peace, security and the political fortunes of the president and Governor Dauda Lawal.
Where exactly the six imams abducted in Zamfara were seized has already become contested. The Zamfara State Police Command, through its spokesperson DSP Yazid Abubakar, confirmed that six clerics were taken and said rescue efforts had begun.
The Nigerian Army later disputed reports that the clerics were seized inside Yari’s residence. Lieutenant Colonel Olaniyi Osoba, Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations for the 8 Division, said intelligence pointed instead to an ambush along the Sububu forest axis in Bakura Local Government Area as the clerics made their way towards Talata Mafara.
Local accounts narrow the scene further still. Residents placed the abduction near Gidan Suleiman Bature, inside the Gonar Sarkin Forest. That spot sits about three kilometres from Damri village, on a stretch travellers use regularly on the way to Talata Mafara.
The differing versions underscore the confusion that often follows security incidents in Zamfara, where attacks in remote areas are frequently reported by residents before authorities can independently verify the circumstances. The precise location of the abduction remains unclear as rescue efforts continue.
Names are already circulating faster than confirmed facts about the six imams abducted in Zamfara. Those reportedly among them include Imam Yahuza, first Jumma’at imam in Dogon Madacci, and Magawata Abdullahi, second Jumma’at imam in the same community. Malam Shehu Dakko, Imam Bala Fagon and Na’ibi Tasi’u of Tungar Nagudai are also named. The identity of the sixth cleric remains unconfirmed.
No ransom demand has surfaced publicly. No bandit group has claimed responsibility for the six imams abducted in Zamfara. That leaves open whether this was opportunism against a large, visible group of clerics or something more deliberate.
The abduction unfolded against the backdrop of a prolonged security crisis in Zamfara, where armed groups have repeatedly targeted villages, farms, markets and travellers. Talata Mafara and Bakura are routinely named among the state’s worst affected local government areas, and both have witnessed repeated attacks in recent months.
For residents, the six imams abducted in Zamfara confirm a grim pattern. Even a gathering meant to summon divine protection could not guarantee safe passage on the road. One resident, speaking to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, compared daily life there to imprisonment. He said people rarely venture far from home even in daylight.
That resident’s appeal reached beyond the immediate incident. Politicians are preparing to campaign in these same communities ahead of 2027. He asked that help arrive quickly, even if political interest rather than compassion is what finally brings it.
The contrast around the six imams abducted in Zamfara is hard to miss. A prayer session organised to summon peace and boost a re-election bid instead produced a fresh security embarrassment. It has pitted the army’s version of events against the police’s, and both against what residents say they witnessed.
Until the imams are found, the argument over Yari’s compound versus the Sububu forest axis will matter far less to their families than the rescue mission’s outcome. Zamfara’s clerics went out to pray for peace. What they got was another chapter in the insecurity their prayers were meant to end.
