Zamfara twins: Neither Yari nor Dan Ali

To be honest, I can’t tell which upsets me more. The fact that four weeks ago, someone who sounded drunk, had called a certain number and demanded N150 million ransom before he would release the beautiful Zamfara twins; or that in the latest phone call, one of the twins was crying and begging her uncle to come to their rescue. Hussaina, as her uncle at receiving end had called her, disclosed that their situation was quite horrible and that her sister was very sick, in addition to all that, they had just witnessed the killing of other captives who were with them.

Naturally, the two phone calls elicited different emotions from me. The first one made me angry and frustrated that such a thing was happening in our country and parents were helpless to do anything about it; while the second simply made me cry because I was very sad and heartbroken.

But the most disturbing thing in all of this, is the total silence from Zamfara state authorities. These youngsters have been abducted for four weeks now but not a word from government house Gusau, on how they are doing all they can to ensure their safe return.

The last time we saw Governor Abdulaziz Yari on TV, was a few days ago, when he was trying to justify why Their Excellencies use private jets as a matter of ‘necessity’ not luxury. He didn’t seem to think that the much publicised kidnapping of two orphaned, brides-to-be from their cousin’s house in Dauran village was anything to take notice of.

As for the defence minister, General Mansur Dan’Ali, over whom the kidnappings were staged in the first place, he might as well be in another planet. There wasn’t a word from him too, either to commiserate with or assure the girls’ guardians that as their representative in Abuja, he would deploy every necessary arsenal, financial or influential, to ensure the young women were back home safely. Yet, the only reason the twins were kidnapped was reportedly because the abductors thought they were the Defence Minister’s daughters.

According to Hassana and Hussaina’s uncle, who spoke to Aminiya newspaper last week, the young ladies were orphans who had lost their father last year, and their mother when they were very little. Though their father retired from the state civil service five years ago, up to the time of his death in 2017, he was not given a kobo of his retirement benefits by the state government.

While all this struggle was going on, the twins presented suitors and the uncle and other relatives had no choice but to come together and shoulder the burden of their marriages. A date has been set for this December and the girls had only gone from Gusau to the village to show their bridesmaids uniform (anko or ashoebi) to their relatives.

They got abducted at the home of one of them. Indeed the owner of the house herself, whose husband was away when the twins came, had been kidnapped along with them.

A day earlier three male cousins had been abducted from the same family. Having successfully done that, the kidnappers were emboldened enough to return the next day. This time, to do away with the girls rumoured to be the minister’s daughters.

Another uncle interviewed by Aminiya said the family had been able to raise N11 million through contributions from their various branches, in order to secure the release of the six captives but the kidnappers had turned down the amount. They were insisting on something much more, though they had come down from the N230 million they demanded earlier, as ransom for all the six victims.

If we live in a country where human lives matter, especially the lives of young ones, every arm of government would be on their toes, working to ensure their release. Even the news outlets would be pursuing the news diligently, thereby putting necessary pressure on the authorities to do whatever it takes to ensure these youngsters’ safe return.

From Chile to Haiti, we have seen how near- tragedies have gotten so much attention from their governments and the media, that they were instantly turned to global events. But over here it’s only politics that gets enough attention. It’s all about how to clinch a public office by hook or by crook and then possibly loot the office by turning everything to personal estate.

And it’s for this reason, that the beautiful Zamfara twins, their cousin Sumayyah, and their three male relations still have a long way to go before they taste the air of freedom. For sure neither Yari nor Dan’Ali care a hoot about their fate.