Kano Dilemma: First mysterious death traced back to Jonathan's loss in 2015 presidential election

byNational Pivot -

It is no longer news that something is wrong in Kano as the State continues to make headlines for mostly the wrong reasons. The State is currently suffering from what is described as 'Harvest of Deaths' as it grapples with a new wave of mass deaths in the State, something the State's governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said is not unusual.


National Pivot had previously reported that Kano residents were left dumbfounded after reports of secret burials of over 150 bodies went viral on social media. Even more disturbing is the fact that the cause of these deaths remain unknown amid fears it could be covid-19 related. Since the issue was first reported last week, the number of deaths continue to rise.


The increase in the toll comes at the time the state witnessed a spike in COVID-19 cases. As of Sunday (today), 77 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in Kano.



One of the health workers at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital said he feared there are more cases than recorded as the state lacks testing capacity.

“Things are in disarray here, and there is no well structured response to COVID-19. The government is not communicating. They are not testing, and people are dying. We have had people coming here to hospital and when they died, they are immediately buried without taking samples for testing,” he said.

“This is not a rumour. People are dying. The suspended test centre was fumigated days ago, and normally it should take 48 hours but as of today, it has not been reopened. They said this is because of the shortage of reagents.”


But the poor are not the only victims of this mysterious situation. The State has recently recorded deaths of 23 high profile persons all within 24 hours, a situation that left residents reeling.

Some of these persons include:

  • Prof Ibrahim Ayagi, CEO of Hassan Gwarzo School
  • Alh. Dahiru Rabiu, Former Grand Khadi
  • Dr. Musa Umar Gwarzo
  • Mal Musa Tijjani, former Editor of Triumph Newspaper
  • Alh. Adamu Isyaku Dal, former SUBEB Boss
  • Alh Salisu Lado


Things are certainly not ok with the highly placed State in the Northern part of the country. However, a report by Daily Trust said although the current situation is unprecedented, it is however, not the first time such mystery deaths occurred in the State.


The report said the State had experienced a similar spike in deaths in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 consecutively. In 2017 and 2018 when the state was hit by an unexplained ailment, people resorted to traditional herbs called Rai-Dore. Some boiled it and drank it while others boiled it and steam bathed with it others used used all methods.

It was also on record that in 2017 the state witnessed an increase in the death of women and children from what was later identified to be malaria. The people of Kano State have come to terms with the spikes, hence why Governor Ganduje downplayed the situation describing it as not 'unusual'.




Our team at National Pivot studied the trend of occurrence from 2016 to date, and realized that it all happened and is still happening since the Jonathan administration was defeated in the controversial 2015 presidential election.

But Jonathan wasn't defeated in 2016. So, what about 2015? Our research found that only one high profile death was recorded, and which has a direct link to the election that saw Buhari emerge as president.


Shortly after Muhammadu Buhari was officially declared winner in the 2015 presidential election on April 1st, 2015, news soon broke a few days later on April 4th that late Alhaji Mukaila Abdullahi, who served as Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State, was burnt to death in his Kano residence along with his wife and two children.

Abdullahi was accused of overseeing massive electoral fraud which saw the APC carted away with 1,903,999 votes to place Buhari in a commanding position to win the 2015 election.



The circumstances surrounding the death of Abdullahi had raised questions and suspicions but the state Police Command debunked insinuation of foul play over the sudden and strange death of the REC and his family.

Addressing journalists at the Bompai Police headquarters in Kano, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, maintained the REC and his family were suffocated after inhaling black smoke emitting from the split air-conditioner hose that caught fire after an electrical fault.


“At about 4:30 a.m., the policemen on guard duty at the official residence of the REC located on No. 2, Sir Kashim Ibrahim Road, Nasarawa GRA, Kano observed a fire emanating from a split air-conditioner in the sitting room.

“They made several attempts to contact the late REC, as well as repeatedly banging on the slide glass to no avail. As a last resort, the police on guard smashed some of the toilet windows, still without response.

“Thereafter, some policemen and local guards broke the door leading to the sitting room and discovered that the sitting room had already been engulfed by fire and smoke,” Idris said.



Whether or not the 5 year old incident had a thing to do with the current dilemma facing Kano State is purely a matter of speculation. But one is certain, something is just not right.
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