Tragedy has struck the Nigerian Army University, Biu, Borno State, following the death of Professor Abubakar Mohammed El-Jummah, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology, while in the custody of Boko Haram insurgents after nearly one year in captivity.
Professor El-Jummah was abducted on March 3, 2025, along the volatile Damaturu–Buni Yadi–Biu highway, a route notorious for insurgent attacks and kidnappings. Since his abduction, the respected academic remained in the hands of the terrorists until he reportedly fell ill and died in captivity. Sources disclosed that the devastating news of his death was formally conveyed to his family on Wednesday in Maiduguri, plunging them into grief.
In honour of the late professor, a funeral prayer in absentia (Salatul Ga’ib) was observed on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at about 2:00 p.m. at the Ngomari Old Airport Juma’at Mosque, close to his residence in the Maiduguri metropolis. The prayer session drew a large turnout of sympathisers, including academics, colleagues, friends, and members of the community, all paying their last respects.
Speaking under anonymity, a family member confirmed the prolonged ordeal endured by the late academic, saying, “the late professor had been in Boko Haram captivity from March 2, 2025 until his death. May Allah forgive him and grant him mercy.”
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The family source, however, declined to disclose whether the insurgents demanded ransom during the period of captivity.
Professor El-Jummah’s death has once again highlighted the persistent insecurity in parts of the North-East and the toll it continues to take on professionals, educators, and families, even as communities mourn the loss of a scholar whose life was cut short in the hands of insurgents.
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