Pardoned mastermind of Kankara abduction killed after returning to forest

Auwal Daudawa, the bandit who was pardoned after he masterminded the abduction over 300 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina state, has been reportedly killed.

Daudawa was killed days after returning to the forest to take up arms, according to Ibrahim Zauma, new media aide to Bello Matawalle, Zamfara state governor.

Zauma said on Friday that the bandits’ leader was killed while “trying to rustle.”

Writing via his Twitter handle, he said: “Barely nine days after Auwalun Daudawa returned to the jungle after swearing oath on the Glorious Quran never to go back to banditry, he met his waterloo! He was killed while trying to rustle.”

Just in: Barely nine days after Auwalun Daudawa returned to the jungle after swearing oath on the Glorious Quran never to go back to banditry, he met his waterloo! He was killed while trying to rustle. pic.twitter.com/EeK8KRZcof

— Ibrahim Bello Zauma (@Ibellozauma) April 30, 2021

He did not provide further comments regarding the development and is yet to respond to an enquiry sent by TheCable.

Daudawa had confessed to kidnapping the Kankara students in 2020.

On Wednesday, citing his close contacts, Daily Trust reported that the bandit had taken up arms again, just weeks after he claimed to have repented.

He was said to have been “frustrated” by “the lack of proper engagement” for him and his family after the Zamfara government undertook the responsibility to cater to his welfare.

In February, the bandits’ leader surrendered his arms, which included 20 AK 47 rifles and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher, claiming to have turned over a new leaf.

He was received at the Zamfara government house where he announced that “we have voluntarily repented.”