Professor Abubakar Mohammed El-Jummah, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology at the Nigerian Army University, has died while in the custody of suspected Boko Haram insurgents.

The professor was abducted on March 3, 2025, while travelling from Biu to Maiduguri. The attack reportedly occurred along the Damaturu–Buni Yadi–Biu highway, a route that has witnessed repeated insurgent activity.

Family sources confirmed that the abductors recently contacted them to announce his death. According to a relative, the insurgents claimed that Professor El-Jummah fell ill and died after spending nearly one year in captivity.

“They told us he became sick and died while in their custody. The news was devastating, but we had no option other than to perform his funeral prayers in absentia,” the family member said, while thanking sympathisers for their support throughout the ordeal.

Funeral prayers were subsequently held in absentia at about 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Ngomari Old Airport Juma’at Mosque near the deceased’s residence, with hundreds of mourners from academia and the wider community in attendance.

Efforts to confirm whether ransom was demanded by the abductors before his death were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.

Professor El-Jummah’s death adds to the growing toll of victims affected by insurgency in Borno State, particularly among professionals and academics whose abductions have continued to raise concerns over security on major highways in the region.