Kano govt shuts schools
Nigerians on social media have demanded justice for a five-year-old abducted and killed in Kano State.
Using the hashtag, #JusticeForHanifa on Twitter, they called on authorities to apprehend the culprits.
Hanifa Abubakar was abducted last month in Kawaji, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano and confirmed dead on Thursday.
Her uncle Surajo Sulaiman told reporters that Hanifa has been buried.
BBC Pidgin discovered that her body was found in a building on Thursday.
The police said three suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, including her teacher, Abdulmalik Mohammed Tanko.
Hanifa was taken to an unknown destination while returning from an Islamiyya school known as Dahiru Bauchi on December 4, 2021.
Sulaiman had said that his niece was taken away in a tricycle locally known as Keke.
He stated that the unknown driver promised to give the girl and some other children coming from the Islamiyya school a lift home but she was taken away.
Sulaiman said the other children who witnessed the incident told him how Hanifa was abducted.
“They closed from school around 5:30 pm; the distance from her home to the Islamiyya school is not far. So children normally trek to the school in groups. After dropping the children off, they then asked Hanifa to enter again for an ‘extra’ ride, and then zoomed off with her,” he said.
Residents of Kawaji told the news platform that they suspected a tricycle driver who was seen in the area several days leading to Hanifa’s disappearance.
Meanwhile, the state government has ordered the immediate closure of the school, ordered the immediate closure of a private school, Noble Kids Academy.
“On investigation, Abdulmalik confessed that the victim, Hanifa was his student at a private school in Kwanar Dakata, Nassarawa LGA, Kano State. 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.”
Here’s what Nigerians had to say on Twitter:
The Kano Anti-Kidnapping Law states that anyone that kidnaps someone & the victim dies in the process death penalty is the punishment for the kidnapper! I call for the death penalty for the barbarians that kidnapped & killed this little angel #JusticeForHanifa ? — @dawisu
Little hanifa was buried here, My condolences to her family and all those who supported us while trying to #findhanifa and we are still seeking #JusticeForHanifa May her gentle soul rest in jannah. — @Maliki
100 retweets for Hanifah May Allah’s Mercy Be With Her ??#JusticeForHanifa — @Ustaz
Hanifa, 5, was kidnapped and murdered by her school teacher. I’m absolutely devastated! ??#JusticeForHanifa — @firstdoctorr
To the person that killed this young beautiful girl and cut short her life and Dream I pray you will not find peace even after your death???? #JusticeForHanifa — Omo naija
The father of Hanifa told BBC she was their only child, and her mother has been hospitalized because of her abduction. Nigerians have been demanding justice for her using the hashtag #JusticeForHanifa — @Bahaushee
