By Vera Chinonso Aliyu and Ada Obeleagu, YeyeNews.com, December 16, 2021
Bandits in Katsina State have expressed dismay that the Emir of Daura did not deem it fit to extend an invitation to them on his marriage to his 20-year-old bride. A bandit leader in the axis pointed out that despite their good gesture of suspending their operations to allow free passage of guests to the marriage, the 90-year-old emir ignored them in the invitations, a source told YeyeNews.com reporter.
“He did not invite us nor did he send us any gifts in appreciation of our goodwill. If he was a younger man, we would have attacked the venue and disrupted the ceremony. But we decided to let the old man enjoy his young bride”, the source quoted the bandit leader.
But an official in the emir’s palace revealed that they decided not to invite the bandit leaders to the ceremony because some of them might develop interest in the young bride. “The palace had often invited them to functions. Their tendency to drink too much and eyes for young girls are legendary. The emir forbade us from inviting them to this marriage ceremony because he fears one of the bandits may develop interest in his bride. He cannot afford to lose his beautiful young bride to anyone”.
A security source however revealed that the real reason the emir shunned the bandits in the invitations was because they insisted on the palace paying an unspecified large sum to allow free passage of guests to the ceremony. “The bandits decision to suspend operations was not borne out of their goodwill. The truth is they were paid a large sum. After the payment the emir saw no need for their presence in his marriage anymore. Even with the assurance of safety, many dignitaries still did not attend the marriage out of fear of being kidnapped along the road. You know these bandits can’t be trusted”.
