Nigeria has lost a senior military figure not on a battlefield, but in a kidnapper’s den. And the country is asking serious questions about how it got to this point.
Retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, a former Director of Defence Information and one of Nigeria’s most recognisable military voices, died in the custody of armed bandits in Katsina State on June 13, 2026. The Katsina State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr. Nasiru Muazu, confirmed the death, stating that the retired officer died from complications of diabetes and hypertension while being held captive.
The Abduction
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Abubakar and his wife, Hajiya Amina Abubakar, were abducted on May 30 while travelling along the Marabar Musawa-Kafinsoli road in Matazu Local Government Area of Katsina State. Their driver survived the attack despite sustaining gunshot injuries. The couple were taken by armed men into the surrounding bush.
On June 6, a video emerged showing both the retired general and his wife appealing to the Katsina government to meet the kidnappers’s demands. The sight of a senior military official, who had once been the public face of the Armed Forces, recording a plea under obvious duress, shocked Nigerians across the country.
The Government’s Response
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Katsina State Government and security agencies mounted sustained efforts to secure his release. Despite those efforts, Abubakar died before they succeeded. Commissioner Muazu described the development as a tragic loss, not just for the family, but for Katsina State and Nigeria as a whole.
Governor Dikko Radda called the death a dark moment and described it as a stark reminder of the urgent need for stronger and more coordinated security responses. He pledged that those responsible for the abduction would be pursued and brought to justice.
A Nation That Must Not Normalise This
General Rabe Abubakar dedicated nearly three decades to the Nigerian military. He served as Director of Defence Information under former President Buhari, putting a public face and voice on the military during some of its most difficult years. That such a man could be taken from a car on a Nigerian road, held for weeks, and die in captivity is a fact that must not be allowed to become routine.
It is not routine. It is a national emergency. And it demands a national response that matches the scale of what is happening.
