In a statement on Tuesday, Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, described the death of the monarch as a colossal loss to the Kagara Emirate and the North Central state in general.

Bello, who is the Chairman of North Central Governors Forum, said, “We have lost a First Class Emir, a member of the State Council of Traditional Rulers, an Octogenarian and an Elder Statesman whose wise counsel has been of immense value to this administration and those before it in the state.”

He described the late emir as a symbol of humility and patience who brought immense unity and progress to the Kagara Emirate.

The governor said the late monarch would be missed and also prayed to God to grant the soul of the departed eternal rest.

Kagara, a rustic town in Niger State, hugged the limelight last month when bandits abducted over 40 students and members of staff of Government Science College, Kagara. The abduction generated outrage as many Nigerians lambasted the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for the spate of students’ abductions which were becoming a norm.

The Kagara abductees, were, however freed more than a week after they were held in captivity. The Kagara abduction occurred some two months after bandits abducted over 300 schoolboys from Kankara in Kastina State.

Aside from Kankara and Kagara, non-state actors had also abducted hundreds of secondary school girls from Chibok, in Borno State; and Dapchi in Yobe State.