Retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, a former Director of Defense Information, has died in captivity, two weeks after he and his wife were seized by armed bandits in Katsina State, the state government confirmed on Saturday.
The Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasiru Mu’azu, said in a statement that the retired officer succumbed to complications from diabetes and hypertension while in the custody of his abductors, despite what he described as relentless efforts by the state government and security agencies to negotiate his release.
“It is with profound sadness that we confirm the General’s death while in bandits’ captivity,” the statement read, adding that the death resulted from natural causes linked to his pre-existing health conditions rather than violence.
Governor Dikko Umaru Radda described the development as a “dark moment” for the state, extending condolences to the bereaved family and renewing calls for a stronger, coordinated response to banditry plaguing communities across Katsina.
General Rabe and his wife were abducted in the Matazu area while en route to a wedding. Days later, their captors released a video in which the couple appealed for help.
The wife urged state authorities and traditional leaders from five local government areas to meet the kidnappers’ demands, which included the release of three associates named as Sani, Aminu, and Nasiru and the return of livestock the gang claimed had been confiscated from them.
In the same footage, General Rabe made a brief appeal for peace and dialogue, noting that his captors had expressed openness to coexistence, remarks that now stand in stark contrast to the tragic outcome of his ordeal.
His death adds to a growing list of high-profile abductions in Nigeria’s North-West, intensifying scrutiny of the security architecture meant to protect even retired senior military officers from armed groups operating with apparent impunity in the region.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
The death of Retired Major General Rabe Abubakar in bandit captivity underscores a grim reality: no one is beyond the reach of Nigeria’s terrorist groups.
Despite negotiations and security efforts, his pre-existing health conditions proved fatal before his release could be secured, a tragedy that highlights both the human cost of banditry and the urgent need for stronger, more effective responses to insecurity in the North-West.
