The Kano State Government has arraigned three suspects involved in the murder case of the five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar.
The suspects – Tanko Abdulmalik Mohammed the school proprietor, Ishiaku Hamisu, and Fatimah Jibril were arraigned at the Chief Magistrate Court 12, Gidan Murtala.
The court read out the charges of conspiracy, kidnapping, concealing/keeping in confinement a kidnapped person, and culpable homicide, all of which they consented to.
However, the case was adjourned until February 2.
On his part, the Attorney General of Kano State, Musa Abdulahi assured Nigerians that justice will be served in the next one or two months unfailingly.
“What I will like to assure you is that the Ministry of Justice is going to, within the next three to four days, file a charge before the proper court.
“We intend to pursue this case vigorously and within the next month or two, we are going to finish with the prosecution of this case. Pls stay calm, let the law take its course. We are a society of law-abiding citizens.
“We do know that it is very painful when these kinds of things happen, we tend to ask ourselves what is happening with our society but we should understand we are living peacefully because of the laws governing us.
“If not for those laws and security agencies, these suspects would not have been arrested within the shortest possible time.”
Hanifa was abducted by her teacher who demanded ransom from her parents and later killed her in December last year.
The disturbing news of her death became a major discourse after the Police Public Relations Officer in Kano, Haruna Kiyawa, confirmed to reporters last Friday that Hanifa’s teacher, one Abdulmalik Tanko, was indicted in the murder.
He revealed that Abdulmalik confessed that he kidnapped the girl and took her to his house where he contacted her relatives and demanded a ransom of N6 million.
The said teacher later conspired with one Hashim Isyaku to kill the girl on December 18, 2021, having realised that the victim had recognised him.
Earlier on Monday, youths burnt the school where the body of the five-year-old was buried in the north-western state.
