User:Kambai Akau/Marok Gandu

Marok Gandu, also Marok Gandu of Magata (18?? - 1902) was a West African anti-slave raiding Atyap war leader who died in defense of his homeland. According to Kazah-Toure in Achi et al. (2019), Gandu was ""...the leading warrior and the most gallant military commander of the Atyap anti-slavery raiding forces..."" He was later captured by the Hausa forces led by the last independent king of Zazzau, Muhammad Kwassau, during his 1902 raid on the Atyap which had been on since circa 1897. According to British claims, these raids caused the massacre of only over 1,000 Atyap people. These raids came to be known as Tyong Kwasa̱u in Tyap (meaning, "running away from Kwassau"). Gandu hailed from Magata, an important village of the Jei sub-clan of the Agbaat clan, which happens to be the leading military clan of the Atyap. His heroic acts as a legendary commander against external aggression in the history of his people's resistance was thought to have been almost totally neglected.

Capture and execution
Gandu was captured in 1902 by the Hausa feudal forces in an ambush while the Atyap staged a fight but could not salvage their leader. He was tortured and later executed by impalement at Santswan forest, Atyapland. A spear was then plunged into his heart from his chest. To symbolise mockery, a flowing gown of the Hausa was then worn over his body and a turban round his head. Other Atyap fighters caught by the Kwassau forces were then led to the execution spot and told to behold their chief. It was reported that Kwassau resorted to impaling his captives on stakes, setting others ablaze alive and burying yet others alive, to force the rest of the people into submission.

Another version presented by Ninyio (2008) from an oral account reveals the captured of Gandu as thus: ""Some Atyab people betrayed him by collaborating with Zazzau slave raiders. Before he was murdered, he was dressed with complete Hausa Sarauta, chieftaincy regalia i.e. a big gown capped with Jan dara (red cap) and turbaned. In addition, he was given cigarette to smoke with kola nut to chew like a Hausa ruler and he was mocked and addressed "raika shidade Sarkin Katab." This literally means 'long live the king of Katab'."" He was reportedly impaled on a stake after the drama mockery. The execution of which led to a great weakening of Atyap resistance against the British on the eve of the colonial invasion.

Yohanna (n.d.) and Akau (2014) also made mention of his execution, but with a date at variance with the others'.

Legacy
According to Kazah-Toure in Achi et al. (2019), a solemn song was sung in his memory up until the 1940s, all over Atyapland during celebrations and ceremonies, to remember his heroism, fall, brutal execution and the turbulent times of his days, and which ironically was not composed in Tyap but in Hausa language.

External reading

 * Books



Category:Atyap people Category:Executed people