The Emir of Zurmi in Zamfara State, Bello Suleiman, has died. A palace statement announced that the traditional king died on Monday afternoon at the Federal Medical Center in the state capital, Gusau.
He had been on the throne for five years. Suleiman assumed the role after his uncle, Abubakar Atiku, was deposed by the Zamfara State administration in 2021 and formally removed in April 2022.
The deposition occurred alongside that of the Emir of Dansadau, Hussaini Umar, with both men accused of maintaining links to banditry and undermining security operations in the region. Atiku eventually died at an Egyptian hospital.
The late emir’s rule was highlighted by a violent incident in May 2024, when armed bandits assaulted Zurmi and took over the emirate palace.
Three security men stationed at the gate were slain in the raid. Buhari Yusuf, the emir’s chief known as the Shamaki, was abducted together with two other men, Aliyu Ahmed and Sa’idu Lawali.
The terrorists also vandalized a nearby MTN telecommunications station, cutting off connectivity and preventing security reinforcements from reaching the town.
Inhabitants claimed that the robbers were motivated in part by frustrations about the alleged mistreatment of Fulani inhabitants by local vigilante groups, and that the emir himself was a target for abduction during the raid.
The death of Bello Suleiman brings another chapter of turbulence to a traditional institution that has been in turmoil since 2021, from a disputed succession to a daring armed assault on its royal grounds.
