Exposes Terrorist Control of Civil Society in Katsina State
By Izhi Bitrus Adamu
(JOS) Amina Sulaiman, 18, an orphan, believed to be a Muslim, fled her village Dan Marke in Dan Musa county of Katsina State, northwest Nigeria, about 586 kilometres by road, 364 miles, from Abuja, the federal capital.
Amina spoke in Hausa in a video interview that has gone viral, first published on Friday, November 6, 2026 by the Civilian Joint Task Force office in Funtua, Katsina State, .
“I would rather die than marry him,” Amina Sulaiman said in the video.
Amina’s relatives allegedly agreed to give her off for marriage to a criminal leader named “Babaye,” captain of a Fulani-tribe armed group in the area. Traditional wedding gifts have been given by the terrorist, Babaye, to her guardians, and they have provided a dowry, according to Leadership.
“Amina is 18. Nigeria is 65. Both are being asked to marry what is killing them.” Mr. Godwin Okon PhD, peace and conflict resolution expert based in Jos told TruthNigeria on November 9.
“The village was told to accept Babaye or be burned. The country is told to accept terror or be burned. The family collected dowry. The country collects peace deals. Amina said no and ran. The country has not yet run,” Okon added.
“This is not a marriage. It’s how a settled system of terrorists works,” Barrister Paul Zaruma said in an interview with TruthNigeria on November 9.
“When a terror group leader demands a girl and a whole village can’t refuse, the family collects dowry out of fear only for a teenage girl to flee. That indicates slavery,” Zaruma said.
The Marriage Proposal
The terror group member is identified in the video as “Babaye”. The video described him as a “notorious bandit,” a name the locals say refers to terrorists.
He reportedly operates mainly within the Dan Musa County (Local Government Area).
Babaye allegedly threatened to burn down the entire village if his demand to marry Amina was rejected, according to the Daily Post.
The threat to Dan Marke village fits a wider pattern in the Northwest, where villages live under the same fear. In Zamfara and Sokoto, armed groups have institutionalised a parallel tax regime of pre-farming levy, harvest tax and protection levy that has forced many Christian farmers to abandon their farmlands, according to Leadership.
In June 2026, armed Fulani ethnic militia (FEM) imposed fresh levies on at least 26 communities in Sabon Birni, Sokoto State, with each community asked to pay between N4 million (about $2,899) and N6 million (about $4,348) before being allowed to access their farmlands.
The relatives reportedly acted in fear of possible reprisals from the bandit leader,
“I told them I could not marry him and had previously told him that I did not love him,” Amina Sulaiman said in the video.
“I will never marry a bandit who survives by engaging in criminal activities,” Amina Sulaiman said in the video.
Amina was asked if she would return to her community. She ruled out the possibility,
“I would rather continue living here on my own. I will never marry a bandit who survives by engaging in criminal activities,” Amina Sulaiman said in the video.
The Route
Dan Marke village is in Dan Musa county (Local Government Area). Dan Musa shares a boundary with the notorious criminal hub in Faskari county.
TruthNigeria has reported a long-running hostage-holding camp in Faskari. Survivors describe an outdoor prison in Faskari where captives are held in chains, forced to fetch firewood for the captors’ families, and where the captors live with their wives and observe Muslim prayers every morning.
“The truth is, terrorists have mounted permanent camps in most of the states in the northern region. The rationale of marrying is no longer about settling, it’s about raising a second generation of terrorists,” Okon told TruthNigeria.
“We met over 100 people, minors, families, breastfeeding mothers, pregnant women and aged people,” Elizabeth Haruna, a woman who survived a kidnapping, told TruthNigeria.
“On Saturday, October 24, the terrorists brought in more than 75 additional victims,” Elizabeth Haruna told TruthNigeria.
Call for proactive Security in the community
Credit: Facebook
A church leader in Jos, Plateau State, who chose anonymity called on the Nigeria Security to ensure the protection of the Dan Marke villagers.
“Last Saturday was to be Amina’s wedding day with Babaye. She’d run already. The gunman had threatened to burn the village should anything hinder the marriage,” the church leader said in an interview on Tuesday, November 10, 2026.
“The activities of bandits in Katsina began in 2010 across seven LGAs, including Faskari and Dan Musa,” a Faskari community leader who preferred anonymity told TruthNigeria in an exclusive interview on Monday, November 9.
“For over 10 years we’ve been troubled by these gunmen,” the local leader went on to say. “They’re actually from among us. They knew us well enough to demand whatever they wanted, including our daughters and farm produce unchallenged,” the community leader told TruthNigeria.
Amina is gone. Dan Marke remains. That is Nigeria today. The girl fled. The village stayed. The camp still holds its hostages. The threat still stands.
“If Amina is Nigeria, then her flight is the question for the whole country: How long will we keep paying dowry to our tormentors, and when will we, like Amina, say, I would rather die than marry him, and walk away?” asked Prof P.H Bamaiyi, Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Jos in a talk with TruthNigeria.
Izhi Bitrus Adamu is a conflict reporter for TruthNigeria.
