Colonel (retired) Jibril Bala Yakubu was the first Administrator of
Zamfara State after it was created from part of
Sokoto State in October 1996, holding office until the return to democracy in May 1999 during the military regimes of Generals
Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military officer and politician who ruled as the military head of state of Nigeria from 1993 until his death in 1998. He seized power on 17 November 1993 in the last successful c ...
and
Abdulsalami Abubakar.
As Zamfara administrator, Yakubu created five Emirates in the state and eleven new District Councils.
After handing over to the civilian governor
Ahmed Sani Yerima
Ahmed Rufai Sani Yerima (born 22 July 1960) is a Nigerian politician who was Governor of Zamfara State from May 1999 to May 2007, and served as Senator for Zamfara West and Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate. He is a member of the All Progress ...
in May 1999, as a former military administrator he was required to retire from the army.
Biography
Yakubu was arrested and jailed based on a charge filed on 9 December 1999 that alleged that he conspired with four others in 1996 to assassinate
Alex Ibru
Alex Ibru (1 March 1945 – 20 November 2011) was a Nigerian people, Nigerian businessman, founder and publisher of ''The Guardian (Nigeria), The Guardian'' (Nigeria) newspaper, who was minister of internal affairs from 1993 to 1995 during the mi ...
, the publisher of ''The Guardian'' newspaper.
As Commanding Officer of 29 Battalion, he allegedly supplied arms to killer squads who eliminated other opponents of General Sani Abacha.
In December 2003 a judge refused his request to stop the trial.
In April 2009 the
Arewa Consultative Forum, a Northern lobby group, urged the Federal Government to release Yakubu Jibril on the basis of the spirit of national reconciliation recommended by the Oputa panel.
Eventually, after 12 years of imprisonment, trials and retrials, Yakubu and his co-defendants were acquitted of most charges on 21 December 2010.
The co-defendants were former Chief Security Officer
Hamza al-Mustapha
Hamza Al-Mustapha (born 27 July 1960) is a former Nigerian Army major and intelligence officer who served as Chief Security Officer to General Sani Abacha, who was Nigeria's military head of state from 1993 until his sudden death on June 8, 199 ...
, former
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
Police Commissioner James Danbaba and former head of the Aso Rock Anti-Riot Police Rabo Lawal.
References
Living people
Governors of Zamfara State
Year of birth missing (living people)
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