A social media account, T I M M I T O M @timmosion, has circulated a detailed narrative linking the 2018 Kasuwan Magani crisis in southern Kaduna to the arrest and conviction of Victor Solomon, popularly known as Zidane, while also recounting the killing of the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Galadima.
According to the account, the violence erupted on a market day at Kasuwan Magani, described as “a major market at the very heart of Adara land,” where farmers, traders, women and children were allegedly caught off guard.
The writer claimed the attack escalated rapidly and involved the use of heavy machinery, which was said to have been used to “crush people, homes, and livelihoods,” leaving the market “reduced to ruins and silence.”
The narrative further stated that amid rising tensions, the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Galadima, a first-class traditional ruler, accepted an invitation from the then Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in the belief that dialogue would help restore calm.
“He honoured an invitation from the then Kaduna State Governor… believing dialogue could calm the situation,” the account said. “However, on his return journey from that invitation, the Agom Adara was kidnapped and later killed. A first-class king who chose peace never made it back to his people alive.”
The account alleged that following the monarch’s death, “nine respected Adara elders were arrested,” a development it said deepened the community’s sense of pain and marginalisation.
It also presented Victor Solomon, known as Zidane, as a figure who allegedly intervened during the crisis.
“During the same crisis in Kasuwan Magani, Victor Solomon, popularly known as Zidane, stood up when his people were under attack,” the writer claimed, adding that “in the absence of effective security and protection, he acted to defend his community.”
According to the account, Solomon’s actions were viewed by many in Adara land “not as criminal but an act of survival and self-defence.”
Despite this, it said he was arrested, prosecuted and eventually sentenced to death by hanging by a Kaduna State High Court.
“Zidane was arrested and prosecuted, and in a devastating outcome, the Kaduna State High Court sentenced him to death by hanging,” the narrative stated. “A defender was turned into a condemned man, while the full truth behind the violence, including the killing of a first-class traditional ruler, remains unresolved.”
The account concluded by asserting that Solomon’s arrest stemmed from his alleged role during the violence rather than any premeditated criminal intent.
“This brief explains what led to Zidane’s arrest, not because he set out to commit a crime, but because he stood in the path of violence,” it said.
