Shock As 93-Year-Old Nigerian Man Who Was Presumed Dead Returns To His Kano Home After 67 Years

Sa'idu Abdullahi 

Sa'idu Abdullahi, a Nigerian who was presumed to have died before Nigeria's independence in 1960 has returned home in Kano state after 67 years, SaharaReporters reports.

Ninety-three-year-old Sa'idu Abdullahi was said to have left his village, Dakatsalle, in present-day Bebeji Local Government Area of Kano state in 1953, during the reign of Emir Abdullahi Bayero.

He was said to have moved to Ibadan, in South-West Nigeria where he lived for 67 years, until he returned home to Dakatsalle, last week.

The family compound of Sa'idu has turned to a mecca for villagers, who have been going there to see the man thought to have died over 60 years ago.

Sa'idu, who left home when he was 26 returned home in the Northwest at the age of 93 after spending 67 years in Ibadan.

Speaking to SaharaReporters in Hausa, Sa'idu said, "For a long time, I've longed to return home; which I left before Nigeria's independence.

"I left Dakatsalle when I was 26, a vibrant youngman, during the reign of Emir Abdullahi Bayero of Kano, whose rulership started in 1926 to 1953.

"I relocated to Ibadan to trade in kolanut and to also find my maternal uncle who left home early in similar circumstances.

"Since I left home and settled in Ibadan, I'm setting my foot on my home for the first time in over 60 years." 

There were tears of joy and wild jubilation as children and grandchildren of his siblings, supported by neighbours celebrated the return of the man whom they thought had died.