Residents of Karofin Madaki in Bauchi metropolis are reeling from shock after a respected Islamiyya teacher, Mallam Rilwanu Dauda, was stabbed to death in an attack linked to a dispute over political posters.

Dauda, 42, was said to have confronted two brothers alleged to be political thugs after they pasted campaign posters on a billboard close to his family house. Witnesses said he politely asked them to remove the posters, insisting the structure was not meant for partisan messages.

The argument reportedly escalated into a scuffle. According to his elder brother, Hamza Dauda, one of the men struck the cleric with a stick while the other hit him on the head with a knife, causing him to collapse before neighbours intervened and dispersed the assailants.

Hamza recounted that the younger suspect then crossed the road to his family house, returned moments later armed with a knife and confronted Dauda at the gate of their compound. He allegedly plunged the blade into the teacher’s stomach and fled.

Neighbours rushed the bleeding cleric to the Bauchi State Specialist Hospital, but he was confirmed dead on arrival. Family members say he left behind a wife and children who depended on his modest income from teaching and other work.

Residents described the slain teacher as gentle, devout and widely respected. Many questioned how a disagreement over posters could end in such a brutal killing, lamenting what they see as a growing culture of violence and intolerance among youths.

Community members suggested the attack may have been fuelled by a prior grudge, noting that the assailant returned to the scene after the initial fight had been broken up. They called for a thorough investigation and stronger action against political thuggery.

Bauchi State Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed visited the bereaved family to offer condolences and pledged to sponsor the education of Dauda’s children from primary to university level. He vowed that those behind the killing would be tracked down and prosecuted, warning that violent offenders would find no safe haven in the state.

The governor urged residents to shun violence in resolving disputes and to support security agencies with credible information. The Bauchi State Police Command, through its spokesperson ASP Nafi’u Habib, confirmed an investigation is underway and promised that no stone would be left unturned until the killers are arrested and brought to justice.