Isa Muhammad Bawa: Travails of a traditional ruler in the den of bandits
Story by Ayuba Ahmed and Aisha Auyo
In a feeble, heartrending voice, disheveled, and in blood-stained apparel, with his hands tied behind him, the 74-year-old Alhaji Isa Muhammed Bawa spoke in a video, pleading passionately, in a feeble, heart-rending voice for his life.
Alhaji Isa Bawa, the District Head of the district of Gatawa in Sokoto state, was speaking from the den of bandits who invaded his domain and took him captive one month ago. He has been a traditional ruler for fourty four years, having been the District Head of the historically significant District of Sabon Birni, before he was recently transfered, demoted rather, to the lesser stool of Gatawa by the state governor, Ahmed Aliyu.
In the video recorded last Wednesday, 14th August 2024, he, eerily said that, going by the vow of his captors, that day might well be his last on earth. Four days after and, by the records of his captors, we should be fervently praying that the beleaguered Royal father is still alive.
Sabon Birni is one of the several towns in the Sokoto East senatorial district that is widely known to be heavily infested by the plagues of cattle rustling, banditry, and kidnapping for ransom. Other towns in that part of Sokoto state suffering from the scourge of banditry and related crimes, include, Isa, Rabba, Goronyo, Gada, and Gwadabawa among others.
Alhaji Muhammed Bawa, who, on the fateful day, was returning home after a meeting with the Sultan at the Sultan palace in Sokoto metropolis, was accosted and abducted at a spot that is peculiarly notorious for its high incidents of heinous crimes.
Before the abduction of the traditional ruler about a month ago, he was known for his active and courageous involvement in the fight against banditry in the state. Perhaps no other traditional ruler in the state compared with him in the campaign against the calamity that has been ravaging that part of the country in the last eight years.
Speaking to Neptune Prime on the fate of the District Head, a veteran journalist based in Sokoto, Malam Abu Shekara, lamented thus:
“I recall that His Royal Highness, Alhaji Isa Muhammed Bawa was in the entourage of the governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on a trip to the Niger Republic for a meeting with officials of that country on how to deal with insecurity in the border areas between the state and that country. His contributions to the discussions were intelligent and enlightened.
“Now he seems to have been abandoned to his fate in the hands of the evil he had given his life to defend the society from. This is a very saddening tragedy about a society that doesn’t care.”
In a video obtained by Neptune Prime, family members of the embattled monarch are blaming the state government for the misfortune that befallen him. According to one of his daughters: “Soon after his abduction, we members of the family, our friends, and well-wishers from far and near, wanted to pull resources together to meet the demands of the abductors.
Watch the full video here
“The state government, through the deputy governor, however, stopped us from relating with the abductors on the assurance that the government was on top of the situation and was doing everything to ensure the safety and comfort of our father in captivity.
“But, by Allah, and we are sure that all who have watched the video of him as released by the captors will agree with us that His Highness is in very, very bad condition in terms of his health and physical appearance. Look at his blood-stained clothes, look at his bloodied eyes, his hands behind his back, and his vomiting blood. How can anyone say that such a person is well and comfortable?
“We are particularly wondering on the reasons why the state government has chosen to be as nonchalant and lukewarm in the matter as dire as thus, of someone who has devoted all his life to the service of his society? Why has the state deputy governor chosen not to be honest and straightforward? We are, therefore, holding the state government responsible for whatever happens, be it positive or negative, to our father.”
In her remarks, one of the wives of the monarch, echoed the lamentations of the princess and the position of the family to squarely hold the state government accountable for whatever fate that eventually befalls the head of their family.
Many who spoke with Neptune Prime in Sokoto, Sabon Birni, and Isa, blamed the state and federal governments for the prolonged insecurity that has been pervading the area. Most respondents argue that the traditional ruler and the multitude of others who have been victims of banditry might have been saved if the menace had been contained long before now.
READ ALSO:Bandits kill Katsina Governor’s aide wife during night raid, abduct another victim
On the specific instance of Alhaji Isa Muhammed Bawa, Neptune Prime was told by many of those interviewed that, perhaps, the traditional ruler is being given the shoddy and nonchalant attitude he is getting from the government because “his relationship with the present administration has been anything but cordial.”
His recent redeployment from Sabon Birni to the ” historically less important district of Malalle, is given to buttress the view that he has not always been on cozy terms with the powers in Sokoto.
Be that as it may, the critical issue and task at hand is on the ways and strategies of getting Alhaji Isa Muhammed Bawa, District Head of Sabon Birni out from the den of his captors… safe and alive.
That is, while looking up to the state government to come alive to its fundamental obligation of safeguarding the life and security of citizens in this instance, all people of goodwill should join the family of His Royal Highness in fervent prayers. These people can be as horrific as they are mean.
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