The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has joined several Nigerians calling for capital punishment for the killer of Hanifa Abubakar, the five-year-old Kano girl that was abducted and murdered by her teacher.
Mrs Buhari shared a short clip of a sermon by an Islamic scholar, Abdallah Gadon Kaya, demanding justice for the late Hanifa.
In the video, Mr Gadon Kaya called on the government and human rights groups to pick up the case of Hanifa and ensure that justice is served immediately.
He said the life of Hanifa’s alleged killer is not in any way better. “Therefore, he should be killed just the way he murdered the little girl. And this should be done openly for everyone to see. Let it serve as a deterrent to others,” the cleric said in Hausa.
Along with the video, Mrs Buhari posted a short commentary of her views on her verified Instagram page.
The president’s wife wrote in Hausa “Muna Goyon Bayan Hukunchin Malam”, meaning we are in support of your judgment/ we are fully behind your position.
Hanifa, a student of Kids Academy, a private school located in Kwanar Dakata in Nassarawa local government area of Kano, was abducted on December 2, 2021, by Abdulmalik Tanko, the proprietor of the school.
Mr Tanko has been arrested and the school closed by the state government.
After kidnapping her and collecting N100, 000 as part of the N6 million ransom he had demanded, Mr Tanko allegedly killed her with rat poison. He was said to have dismembered Hanifa’s body and buried the remains in the private school’s premises at Kwanar ‘Yan Gana, Tudun Murtala Quarters, in Nassarawa local government area of the state.ⓘ
Last Thursday, Mr Tanko led police officers to the school premises and showed them where he buried the schoolgirl’s body in a shallow grave.
Her remains were then exhumed for medical examination and a proper burial by her family.
Mr Tanko has not yet been charged as of the time of filing this report.
Speaking in an emotional voice, the girl’s father, Abubakar Abdussalam, told journalists the family was traumatised. Hanifa’s mother was admitted to the hospital after she collapsed and fainted, he said.
He demanded justice from the authorities and returned all glory back to God. “I am really in sorrow about this incident. I can only thank God because this can happen to anyone, and it is said that everyone who lives today will die someday. So, I leave everything to God, but I will never forget this till I die,” he said
Nigeria is grappling with a spate of criminal incidents with kidnapping for ransom very common, mostly by armed bandits who sometimes target schools for mass abductions of students.
The death penalty, as demanded by Mrs Buhari and the Islamic cleric, is still legal in Nigeria for some crimes such as murder. However, many rights groups, such as Amnesty International, have called for its abolition.
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