A 21-year-old student of the Federal University Gusau, Zarah Abubakar Shehu, has died in captivity four months after being abducted alongside her two siblings, despite the payment of ransom.
Zarah was kidnapped from her home in the Damba area of Gusau, Zamfara State, in the early hours of November 3, 2024, by suspected bandits.
The abductors initially demanded N35 million but later agreed to N10 million as ransom. However, after receiving the money, they refused to release her, demanding four motorcycles and four cartons of engine oil.
After months of attempts to meet the new demands, the items were eventually secured. However, when the kidnappers’ leader was informed, he contacted his men, who disclosed that Zarah had already died and had been buried two days earlier.
The deceased, the only daughter of her mother, spent four months in captivity before her death. Her case adds to the rising number of student abductions in Nigeria, which persist despite security interventions.
In April 2021, gunmen attacked Greenfield University in Kaduna, abducting at least 20 students and two staff members. Three of the students were later found dead, while the remaining 14 were released after more than a month in captivity.
More recently, students from the Federal University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Benue State, were kidnapped in April 2021, while nine students were abducted from Confluence University in Kogi State in May 2024. In February 2025, gunmen seized four female students from Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, also in Makurdi.
The repeated attacks on students have raised concerns about rising insecurity in the country, with calls for stronger measures to protect educational institutions and secure the release of abducted victims.
