Cruel fate: Zamfara student killed in captivity despite ₦10m ransom payment

Zamfara State has been plunged into grief following the tragic death of 21-year-old Zarah Abubakar Shehu, a student of the Federal University Gusau.

She  perished in captivity despite her family’s desperate efforts to secure her freedom.

Zarah, a 300-level student, was abducted alongside her two siblings in the early hours of November 3, 2024, when armed bandits stormed their home in the Damba area of Gusau.

The kidnappers initially demanded ₦35 million for their release, but after agonising negotiations, they settled for ₦10 million.

Yet, even after the ransom was paid, the torment did not end. The heartless abductors refused to release Zarah, cruelly increasing their demands—this time insisting on four motorcycles and four cartons of engine oil as the final price for her freedom.

According to Zagazola Makama, a counter insurgency expert, for months, her family struggled to meet the ever-changing conditions, clinging to hope that she would return home alive.

But when the demands were finally met, the devastating truth emerged—the captors had already buried her two days earlier.

Zarah, the only daughter of her mother, endured four months of captivity before her life was cruelly cut short.

Her death is yet another heartbreaking chapter in the growing wave of insecurity tormenting the nation, leaving a family shattered and a community in mourning.