Major General Rabe Abubakar, former military spokesman, dies in captivity
Since January 2026, the country has witnessed a renewed upsurge in the murderous activities of bandits and Boko Haram insurgents, with attacks growing bolder and casualties climbing higher. From the abduction of school children and their teachers in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, to the sacking of communities in Kwara, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina and Niger States, Nigerians are daily reminded that the nation is under siege and nowhere is safe from the activities of these deadly marauders. As it is happening to other Nigerians, the roll call of high-calibre victims keeps increasing by the day. Tragically, the latest name etched on that grim register is retired Major General Rabe Abubakar, a former military spokesman who was abducted alongside his wife somewhere in Katsina State and confirmed dead after being held for about two weeks. Fortunately, the wife has been rescued.
We express our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased general. For about 35 years, Abubakar served in the Nigerian Army with distinction. He came into limelight as the Director of Defence Information and became the calm and measured voice of the military during some of its most turbulent periods. He briefed the nation through the heat of the counter-insurgency operations, defended the integrity of the Armed Forces before local and international media, and worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between soldiers in the trenches and citizens at home. He was a familiar voice to Nigerians during critical periods, articulating the military’s position with clarity and restraint. Officers and soldiers who served under Abubakar recall a man of discipline, intellect, and uncommon loyalty to the system.
Abducted on a quiet road in the state he once helped to secure, Abubakar waited for the rescue that never came. For 14 harrowing days, his family, colleagues, and the nation watched the clock. The end came not in a daring special force rescue operation, but in the hands of the criminals who held him hostage. That a General of the Nigerian Army, a man who once coordinated military communications across three services, could be abducted and kept in custody until he died mysteriously without consequence is a damning indictment of how far we have fallen as a nation. Nigerians are now confronted with the uncomfortable question: If an army General is not safe, who else is?
Abubakar’s death is not an isolated tragedy. It is a grim reminder of a country haemorrhaging under repeated assaults and exposes the scale of a crisis that touches every Nigerian household. Insecurity has moved from the fringes to the centre of Nigerian life. Farmers have abandoned ancestral lands in Kebbi, Sokoto, Niger, Zamfara, Kwara and Benue States. The highways across the Northwest, Northeast and the Northcentral have become unsafe, same as schools and worship places in the rural communities. Bandits in multiple numbers roam around our forests in motorcycles brandishing automatic weapons and largescale ammunition with guts and confidence. Fear has become a national currency, and it is impoverishing us all.
Defeating this threat requires a more pragmatic approach. Authorities must prioritise intelligence-led operations, improve inter-agency coordination, and invest in real-time surveillance and community policing. The ungoverned spaces where these criminals breed must be reclaimed and dominated while political will must be matched by military firepower such that no terrain within Nigeria is too difficult to access. The tragic loss of Abubakar should jolt the people to demand more than the usual grief so that no other patriot dies waiting for a rescue that never comes. May the gentle soul of Major General Rabe Abubakar rest in peace.
