21st January, 2022
The Kano State Government has shut Noble Kids Academy,in Nassarawa Local Government Area, where an abducted pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, was killed and buried.
Five-year-old Hanifa was abducted on 4 December by her teacher, Abdulmalik Mohammed Tanko, who has been arrested by the police.
Abdulmalik demanded a ransom of N6million but went ahead to kill her after receiving the money.
“On investigation, Abdulmalik confessed that the victim, Hanifa was his student at a private school in Kwanar Dakata, Nassarawa LGA, Kano State”, the Kano Police Command said in a statement.
“He kidnapped her and took her to his house where he contacted her relatives and demanded a ransom of Six Million Naira (N6,000,000),” the Public Relations Officer of the Kano Police Command, Haruna Kiyawa, said on Friday.
“On the 18/12/2021, having realised that the victim recognized him, he claimed to have poisoned her to death, conspired with one Hashim Isyaku and buried her in a shallow grave within the private school premises located at Kwanar ‘Yan Gana, Tudun Murtala Quarters, Nassarawa LGA, Kano State.”
Across social media, the hashtag #JusticeForHanifa topped Facebook trend in Nigeria.
“Where are girls safe? Where are our kids safe? How low can people stoop in their quest for quick wealth?”. asked Mmiliaku Genevieve in a post on Facebook.
“This is an inhuman and barbaric act. I cannot contemplate how a sane person would separate a little girl from her parents and subsequently kill her,” wrote David Ezra Nabasu.
A Fecbook account Credible Media said: “This is a very painful one.
“What on earth can possess a teacher/Schoolowner Abdulmalik Mohammed Tanko to kidnap this child and feed her with rat poison even after collecting N6,000,000. What on earth!!!
“There is something wrong in a system that has allowed kidnapping to become a “simple business” that anyone can engage in.
“I sincerely hope the death of this precious child will make us think. If children can be kidnapped by a caregiver, then no one is safe.”