Emir of Kontagora dies at 84

Emir of Kontagora, in Niger State, Alhaji Saidu Umaru Namaska, has died at the age of 84.

The Sarkin Sudan of Kontagora, as he was known, spent 47 years on the throne.

The monarch was said to have died at an Abuja hospital.

Although neither the palace nor his family has issued any official statement of the emir’s demise, a source within the palace confirmed the death of the monarch.

The emir’s death came three months after bandits killed his son during an attack on the monarch’s farm.

Alhaji Bashar Namaska, the deceased’s son, was on the farm along Zuru road in Kontagora Local Government Area of Niger State when the bandits attacked and killed him.

Some other people working with him were also said to have been shot dead while unspecified number of cows were rustled.

The late Bashar, who was the Sardauna of Kontagora, had been holding forth for his father who had been sick.