After Five Years, Legal Battle to Free ‘Zidane’ Continues
By Luka Binniyat and Steven Kefas
(Kaduna) – Victor Solomon, 34, dubbed “Zidane,” the name of a famous footballer, was hailed as a folk hero six years ago among the embattled Adara Christians in Southern Kaduna, Northcentral Nigeria.
Adara is a Christian majority ethnic group in Kajuru county.
For more than six years, his fate seemed forgotten—until TruthNigeria reporters unearthed shocking details of what appears to be a politically motivated entrapment of a political dissident.
Tribal leaders tell TruthNigeria there was a targeted clampdown by the immediate past administration of Kaduna State, led by former Governor Nasir el-Rufai.
El-Rufai Charged with Genocidal Targeting of Adara Leaders
“El-Rufai is clearly complicit in the genocide against the Adara not only by his inciting comments against us, but by targeting us, the victims, for arrest and prosecution,” according to the former National President of the Adara Development Association (ADA), Mr. Awemi Dio Maisamari in an interview Monday.
Maisamari accused El-Rufai of orchestrating Zidane’s arrest solely for resisting “genocidal attacks” allegedly carried out by Fulani militias against the Adara people.
Between 2018 and 2023, various reports from human rights groups and local sources estimate that over 700 Adara civilians—mostly Christians—were killed in a series of Fulani militia attacks across Kajuru, Kachia, and Chikun LGAs.
He recalled how, in February 2019, El-Rufai accused the Adara people of killing 66 Fulani. It was an allegation that was later revised to 130.
However, the Kaduna State Police Command refuted the claim, stating there was no evidence to support it.
Kasuwan Magani: A Flashpoint of Violence
Kasuwan Magani is small town that bestrides the Kaduna -Kachia express road, in Kajuru County, 16 miles, South of Kaduna city.
It has a large weekly market of mostly agricultural produce and livestock, attracting buyers and sellers from most states in Central and Northwest Nigeria.
Maisamari said that the Fulani-Hausa Muslim settlers consistently provoked violence in Kasuwan Magani, targeting Adara communities.
Kasuwan Magani has been a hot bed of ethno-religious mayhem mainly between the Adara ethnic owners of the town and the Hausa/Fulani settlers since 2018.
“Zidane wasn’t even a youth leader, but a charismatic youth who helped defend our people from well-organised attacks in Kasuwan Magani and other towns between 2018 and 2020,” he said.
Many of Zidane’s peers were killed or maimed, while others, like him, survived with trauma, Maisamari said.
“El-Rufai wasn’t happy they survived. That’s why the state mounted a manhunt for him,” Maisamari said, revealing he too was arrested alongside eight other Adara leaders.
The Arrest: Hunted, Shot, and Brutalized
A close associate of Zidane, who requested anonymity for security reasons, recounted how authorities harassed relatives to force Zidane’s surrender. His phone was then tracked to Kallah, near Kasuwan Magani.
“He was on a motorbike. When he saw the army trucks, he tried to flee into the bush,” the source said.
“They shot him in the leg, beat him bloody, and took him straight to their base in Kaduna,” the source added.
Years in Custody Without Trial
Barrister Mark Jacob, National Legal Adviser to the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and Zidane’s counsel, told TruthNigeria that the army arrested Zidane in April 2020 and detained him at 1 Division Headquarters, Kaduna, where he was tortured for longer than three months.
“They tried to force a confession that he led an armed Adara group killing Fulani,” Jacob said.
“Eventually, the army admitted they found no arms on him and handed him to the police,” he said.
Zidane was then held at the notorious FCID detention center in Gabasawa, Kaduna, for another four months.
After sustained pressure, he was arraigned before Justice Munir Ladan of Kaduna State High Court 4 in 2021, Jacob told TruthNigeria.
Legal Proceedings: A Long Road to Justice
Zidane was charged under the Firearms Act (Cap F28 LFN 2004), Sections 3 and 27, and for murder under Section 190 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.
“He was acquitted of the firearms charge, but the murder trial is ongoing,” Jacob confirmed. “Both sides have concluded their final submissions. We await the judge’s verdict.”
Abandoned by Southern Kaduna Tribal Coalition: Zidane Kin
Speaking to our reporters in Kasuwan Magani, Sunday the elder brother of Zidane, Nicolas Bawa 36, who runs a commercial motorcycle in the town, said that his kid brother, Zidane, has been abandoned by the socio-cultural umbrella body of the 57 ethnic groups that make up Southern Kaduna known as Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU).
SOKAPU is known for speaking up for oppressed persons and groups from Southern Kaduna and rallying financial support and relief materials for distressed communities of Southern Kaduna.
“SOKAPU has abandoned my brother,” according to Bawa. “It is the group that is supposed to take up his matter, but they have not done anything for him. In fact, sometimes I deeply regret our involvement in risking our lives to defend our people,” Bawa added.
“My brother has been taken from one detention hell to the other after he offered his life for our people, but his family and he have had no support from SOKAPU or any group,” Bawa said. “So, what’s the point of the struggle?” he asked.
Wife Speaks: ‘I Just Want My Husband Back’
TruthNigeria found Zidane’s wife, Comfort Victor, 28, in a dilapidated compound on the outskirts of Kasuwan Magani. With two sons—aged 10 and 7—she now survives by subsistence farming.
“My husband was arrested when Napoleon was just a year old,” she said. “Nelson was three. I’ve only seen him four times in six years,” she said in tears.
Their house was razed during the 2020 Fulani militia attacks in Kasuwan Magani.
“I don’t want anything. I just want my husband back,” she said.
Luka Binniyat and Steven Kefas are conflict reporters who write for TruthNigeria from Kaduna and Jos.
