Aminu Abdulkadir Wanka was born on 16 October 1993 (corresponding to 1 Jumada al-Awwal 1414 AH) in the town of Wanka, situated in Soba Local Government Area of Kaduna State. He was the son of Malam Abdulkadir Sa'ad Wanka and Malama Khadija Aminu, who was widely and affectionately known as Malama Lamunde. Both of his parents passed away during his lifetime, leaving him to care for his younger siblings alongside his grandparents.
His educational journey began at Fudiyya Primary School in Zaria, after which he attended Kufena College in Zaria, graduating in 2012. Driven by a desire to serve the healthcare needs of his community, he earned a diploma from the Makarfi College of Health Science and subsequently obtained a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Health Information Management from the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) in Zaria. In daily life, he balanced agricultural work with his duties as a healthcare professional at a hospital in Dan Wata, while also teaching children at the local Fudiyya school.
Among his family, peers, and colleagues, Aminu was recognized for his quiet discipline, honesty, and peaceful disposition. He was widely remembered as someone who never engaged in disputes or harbored rancor. In his spiritual life, he maintained regular voluntary fasts on Thursdays and Fridays and dedicated his spare moments to study. At his workplace, colleagues of differing religious traditions attested to his diligence and unimpeachable character, remarking that he was continually absorbed in reading and learning rather than wasting time. At the time of his death, he was unmarried and was only three months away from his scheduled wedding.
Shahid Aminu held deep devotion to the Islamic Movement and remained steadfast in following leadership. He often shared concise spiritual counsel with those around him, encouraging them to overcome personal spiritual complacency:
“Always challenge your inner self regarding religious duties; whenever it whispers that you cannot manage, prove it wrong and persevere.”
On the eve of his martyrdom, while speaking with his students at Fudiyya, he foretold that his sacrifice was imminent, gesturing directly toward his chest as the place where he would be struck. On 28 August 2022 (1 Safar 1444 AH), during the peaceful Ashura commemoration gathering in Soba Local Government, police opened fire on the attendees. Aminu was shot directly in the chest near his heart and was martyred instantly, fulfilling the very fate he had anticipated.