The Gobir Kingdom’s Elders have urged the federal and Sokoto State governments to act quickly to secure the remains of Alhaji Isa Muhammad Bawa, the deceased Sarkin Gobir who was assassinated on July 27, 2024, by bandits.

The Gobir elders expressed their disapproval at the government’s failure to get the release of their king’s body to reporters on Monday at the Kano NUJ Press Centre.

At a meeting on September 7, 2024, Professor Illiyasu Yusuf Gobir, the group’s spokesperson, read a communique signed by the Gobir Development Association (GDA). Prof. Yakubu Aliyu Gobir, the secretary, and Alhaji Idris Alhassan Gatawa, the chairman, also spoke. Prof. Gobir accused the Sultan of Sokoto of failing to offer the Gobir people condolences for the king’s death.

“The good people of Gobir Kingdom frown and condemn the Sultanate Council of Sokoto’s non-compromise with them over the kidnapping and subsequent horrific murder by Fulani bandits of the late Royal Father,” he declared.

Similarly, Illiyasu stated that “the Sokoto State Government’s efforts to secure His Royal Highness’s release after he was abducted on his way back home from an official engagement in Sokoto were insufficient.”

The people of Gobir Kingdom, he said, were grateful for the widespread outcry over the late monarch’s kidnapping and brutal death at the hands of Fulani criminals.

The Fulani bandit kingpin Halilu Sububu was destroyed as a result of recent military operations, he acknowledged. “Both Sokoto State and Federal Government are hereby called upon to sustainably intensify these military operations so as to permanently solve the Fulani banditry activities in North-West in general and Sokoto East in particular,” he said.

“The situation of the collective population of internally displaced persons (IDPs) caused by the increased, ceaseless Fulani banditry activities in Sokoto East in general and Sabon Birni Local Government in particular is called upon the Sokoto State and Federal Governments to address as a matter of urgency.”

The communique continued, “We the Gobir Elders appreciate the maturity and composure with which the good people of Gobir Kingdom have responded to the kidnapping and subsequent horrific murder by Fulani bandits. We call on them to continue in this manner.”

In order for peace to prevail, they implored Hausas in general and the Gobir people in particular to behave responsibly and with moderation when provoked.

The elders said, “Our patience is fast running out,” and they urged the government to “do the needful to ensure that the spate of senseless and wanton killings and abductions are brought to a decisive end.”