Kano shuts school where pupil Hanifa was killed by her teacher

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 N6 million 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.”