Kano bleeds while leaders watch: killings by phone snatchers spiral out of control
By: Zagazola Makama
Kano, the heartbeat of Northern Nigeria, is under siege not from terrorists in the bush, but from cold-blooded killers on its streets. Phone snatchers, locally called ‘Yan Daba, have turned the ancient city into a hunting ground, and the silence of those in power is deafening.
In recent weeks, the blood of innocent young men has soaked the streets, their only crime being the possession of a mobile phone. The most recent victim, Sadiq Gentle a man whose life brimmed with promise was stabbed like an animal for a device that is not worth a fraction of his life. His killers did not just take a phone; they took somebody’s son, friend, brother, and a future. This is not petty theft. This is murder. Cold. Deliberate. Cowardly. And it is happening daily in Kano.
Let us speak the truth: these killers are not phantoms. They are known faces sons, brothers, neighbours. Once bright children now swallowed by drugs, cultism, and a warped street culture that glorifies bloodshed.
And where are the leaders? Enjoying the trappings of office, trading insults over politics while their people are butchered in the streets.
Security agencies cannot claim ignorance. These killers roam openly, terrorising neighbourhoods, emboldened by the absence of a decisive crackdown. Patrols are weak. Arrests are made daily but Prosecutions are rare.
If this rot is not cut out now, the ‘Yan Daba of today will be the armed robbers, kidnappers, and terrorists of tomorrow. We are breeding a fearless, remorseless generation that will plunge Kano and the North into deeper chaos.
This is a direct call to the Police Command, the DSS, and the State Government: deploy men, dismantle gangs, raid their hideouts, flood the streets with tactical teams, and make the killers fear the law again. Do it now not after another funeral, not after another grieving mother wails over her son’s lifeless body.
Kano is bleeding. And the nation is watching.
