BREAKING: Shehu of Bama dies at 63

A First Class Emir in Borno State, the Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibn Umar El-Kanemi, has passed away at a hospital in Maiduguri the state capital.

The State Government, while confirming the death of the monarch, said he passed on Monday afternoon in Maiduguri.

The deceased was the seventh Shehu of old Dikwa Emirate that included Bama, Dikwa, Ngala and Kala-Balge local government areas of the State before it was, in 2010, split into two: Bama and Dikwa Emirates headed by two separate First Class Emirs.

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Babakura Abba Jato, took advantage of a routine media briefing usually held daily by Borno’s high powered response team on prevention and control of COVID-19, to confirm the death to journalists.

Jato said the Shehu was known to have been battling with protracted illness as many people of his age often deal with.

The Commissioner said the Shehu’s palace will announce funeral arrangements that will be communicated to members of the public.

The Emir’s demise was also confirmed to newsmen in Maiduguri by the district head of Nganzai, Bakaka Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai Al-Amin Elkanami.

“The Shehu passed away shortly after Asir prayer in Maiduguri,” he said, describing the death as sudden as the monarch had just breathed his last around three o’clock yesterday [Monday] at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH).