Samban Barkan was born on 13th August, 1910. His father was a descendant of Nagwamatse of Kontagora in today’s Niger state. He was said to have migrated from Kontagora to Barkan in Maska village area. The village of Barkan is located south of Maska some few kilometres away from the town. So, Sambo was born at Barkan that is why he answered the name of his village. His father stayed at Barkan some years before he migrated to Dandume. The reason for their migration was not known to the researcher.  Also the attempt to trace the coming of his father to Dandume proved abortive because none of the informants could adequately remember the coming of his father to Dandume. This according to Usman was probably because of the serious weakness and major omissions in the published accounts of internal migratory trends in Katsina which form an important part of the internal relations of people in the kingdom.  Whatever, the case may be Sambon Barkan had his early education from his father who was said to be an Islamic scholar. He learnt the Qur’an and prophetic Hadith between the ages of 10 to 20 years. At the age of 25 he got married to Uwani a daughter of one Fulani man in Barkan. He was blessed with children both males and females. Besides, Uwani, Sambo married two wives which bore him many children.  

             As a Hausa man he engaged in farming and rearing of animals. Through farming he earned his means of livelihood. Even though according to Maiunguwa Baidu, Sambo served as one of the buying agents of the BCGA in Dandume in 1921 up to 1960. His interaction with one Mr. Miller of the BCGA helped greatly in shaping his political thought and thinking. Mr. Miller was a staff of the BCGA who travelled far and near of Maska district to buy cotton, groundnut for his company. In the course of trading activities Mr. Miller came in contact with Sambo at Dandume market. From there he developed interest in Sambo and asked him if he would agree to be one of his buying agents at Dandume. Sambo accepted the request of Miller and eventually followed him to Funtua. Miller was said to have attract Sambo very close to him to the extent that many people used to nick named him the brother Miller.  

            So, his closeness to Miller helped him to understand the nature of colonial exploitation in Funtua. Because of the ideas he harboured from Mr. Miller, Sambo started to question European policies on forced labour and colonial taxation in Maska district and by extension Katsina province. Within a short Sambo’s activities against the N.A became pronounced in Katsina province to the extent that he challenged the N.A openly without fear of favour. It was in the course of this struggle that NEPU reached Funtua. Thus, Sambo had no alternative rather than to join the party on the belief that it was the only party which would fight against oppression of Talakawa which he had being fighting for since the 1940s.

               As a freedom fighter, Sambo was said to have demonstrated his intention to fight for the Talakawa in Maska district and the province in general. One of such incidence was when Sambo met a gang of labourers from Maska, Makama and Galadima district being forced to work at Daudawa farm centre in 1953. The incidence happened when Sambo was in his way to Dandume from Sheme. He noticed a gang of labourers working for the N.A. Sambo went to the site and called the labourers and told them not to continue with the useless work. After delivering his usual NEPU messages of levelling corruption charges against the Katsina N.A he asked them to disperse to their various homes.  When the report got to the District Office and Sarkin Maska, he ordered for the arrest of Sambon Barkan. At an interrogation of Sambo, the police asked him the following questions.

Who asked them to disperse?

Sambo, replied, I did.

The Police asked, why?

Sambo replied that they were being forced to work without pay.

The police officer asked, who told you that they were not paid.

Yes, they were not paid. 

               At the time when the interrogation was taken place, the Galadima of Dandume was around who represented Sarkin Maska. The Galadima interrupted and said yes they were paid. A hot argument then ensured between the Galadima and Sambon Barkan. Each side stuck to its position. No one conceded ground. In the long run the D.O ordered the police to go and call the labourers. When they came they were asked if they were paid.  And so all the labourers said they were not being paid anything though they had been working for over two weeks. The D.O angrily turned to the Galadima who could not respond. He only bowed his head. The D.O therefore ordered for their release immediately. 

             In front of D.O and Galadiman Dandume, Sambon Barkan told the labourers not to fear any Governor, Resident or District Officer because they are employers of the people-who depend on the taxes paid by the people. He further charged them according to Audu Ta kunu that ‘from today if any member of NEPU sees a collection of people working and he ask who told you to this work’ and is told the Emir and if he hears that they have not been paid, he must tell them to leave the job. If anybody asks who asked the workers to disperse, let you said I Sambon Barkan told you to do so. He told them to cease following instruction, otherwise there will be no happiness for us forever. 

                   Sambo also fought against taxation, which was in itself a tool of exploitation and oppression. There were many instances whereby villagers of Dandume, Maska, and Sabuwa etc were put under arrest and heavily fined. Those who could not afford to pay the fine as well as those who were fearful of a repeat of this fled their villages. At the end of the day, the villages were deserted. In response to this, Sambo mobilised his NEPU members from Bakori, Maska, and Faskari to fight against the atrocities of the N.A in the emirate. In the long run, they succeeded in their effort to fight against over taxation and confiscation of land and property in most of the district under review. 

               Another classical case of Sambon Barka and Katsina N.A was that of Dandume market and primary school. The case reads that one day the people of Dandume wrote to Katsina N.A through Sarkin Maska requesting for the N.A to build a school and a dispensary in their town. Based on this they suggested that the school and the dispensary should be built in the market premises. The reason behind this according to Musa Dangata was that both the market and the dispensary would complement one another especially on the issue of patients who mostly came to the market on weekly basis. Surprisingly, the N.A went ahead and built the school in bush without consulting the people of Dandume. Next the market was moved to bush without discussing the matter with anyone at all.  But contrary to the above the colonial report of 1952 stated that

The movement of Dandume market was done with consultation of Sarkin Maska the district head of Funtua and some elders of the village. The elders decided and accepted the advice, and in the presence of Sarkin Maska they issued instructions to dismantle the old market. They further declared that they would give their support to the school...So, the market and the school were located in the present position after careful thought by the Emir and his advisers and that I do not propose to alter their position now. 

             To the people of Dandume, this would not be possible, as such Sambon Barkan mobilised his people to go against the decision of Katsina N.A on the ground that they have insisted to get the N.A to implement their request on one hand, and on the other refuse for the removal of the local market to a new site. The reason behind this was because the conditions for the new market were not suitable to the people of Dandume. They further argued that their people found it difficult to reach the market especially during the rainy season. Moreover, the market was about two kilometres from the village. Thus, there were too much expenses of transport to and fro. 

               At this juncture one can buttress the fact that the N.A failed to look at the complaint of the people of Dandume and therefore went ahead to implement its decision on the transfer of the market to a new place. In return, the people of Dandume under the leadership of Sambon Barkan protested against the decision of Katsina N.A through so many ways. In the first instance the protest was peaceful, but as time goes on it resulted to verbal accusation of Sarkin Maska and Galadiman Dandume. According to Dangata, it went to the extent that the people of Dandume threw stones to the representatives of the Emir of Katsina in one occasion at Dandume. The Katsina N.A stood firmly to its decision that the market must be moved to the new place. When the people of Dandume realise that the N.A would not retreat from its decision they therefore decided to appeal to the NEPU headquarters in Kano. This was because it went to the extent that the leaders of the movement were detained and sentenced to two years imprisonment without due process.  The petition read as follows.

Almost two years ago, we the people of Dandume have been making protest against the decision of Katsina N.A for the removal of our local market from its present location to a new site of about one mile distance from the village, which it is considered will give much inconveniences to the village people. We have therefore announced very sorrowfully that the position has shown much unbearable to our people. We have to emphasize very strongly that the Government should look an early view of the market to avoid future conviction. 

            In return, the NEPU office in Kano responded to the petition wrote by the people of Dandume in the following ways

The National headquarters of NEPU in Kano viewed with deep sympathy the sad situation of affairs with the villagers of Dandume. And therefore send a unanimous pretext over the attitude of Katsina N.A which decided to remove the local market of the village to a new site to which the villagers of Dandume have resisted. It is hoped that your administration will do something immediately to avoid and further disturbances... 

             Whatever the case may be, the issue of Dandume market was a classical case which demonstrated the stance of Sambon Barkan in the fight for freedom and human rights violation in practical terms as it has been shown in the above paragraphs.