*Kano govt shutdown school
President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the murder of five-year-old school girl, Hanifa Abubakar, whose body was discovered in a shallow grave in Kano after near two months of fruitless search.
The President in a statement by Garba Shehu, his Senior Special Assistant on Media & Publicity, expressed the nation’s condolences to the family of the five-year-old Hanifa Abubakar.
According to the statement, the President in the same breath praised the work of the police and the secret service in unraveling the mystery behind the disappearance of Hanifa, and particularly for the arrest of her teacher and his other accomplices suspected of the child’s kidnap and murder.
The statement reads in part, “President Buhari said the family and the whole nation which followed up on Hanifa’s travail every day since her disappearance in December last year were hoping for the girl to have been rescued alive and well, adding however that the very thorough and painstaking detective operation by the law enforcement bodies, leading to the discovery of the corpse and the arrest of the suspects who have already made confessions was commendable, calling it an achievement that should instill more public confidence in the authorities.
“When breakthroughs like this happen, people will talk differently of law enforcement,” said the President.
President Buhari prayed for the repose of the soul of the little school girl and urged her parents to bear the sad loss with courage and fortitude in God.
The President urged the Police and Ministry of Justice to uphold the integrity of the detective work that busted the case by preparing well and presenting a good case that will earn the respect of the court.
On his part, Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has assured that the state government has already taken measures which include the indefinite closure and withdrawal of the operational license of the school, where the child was allegedly said to have been gruesomely murdered.
He vowed that the government would continue to meticulously monitor and ensure the prosecution of anyone found culpable in the kidnap and murder of Hanifa Abubakar.
This is contained in a statement issued by the state commissioner for information, Malam Muhammad Garba.
Kano teacher gives details of how he murdered 5-year-old Hanifa
Meanwhile, Abdulmalik Tanko, a teacher arrested over the murder of Hanifa Abubakar, has given graphic details of how he murdered the five-year-old pupil.
Tanko, who was paraded by the police on Thursday, confessed that he killed her with rat poison which he bought for N100.
According to him, he contacted his friend, identified as Hashimu Isyaku, and one Fatima Musa, to kidnap the girl from her home but they failed to carry out the abduction.
“I lied to Fatima and Isyaku that the girl’s mother was the one behind the plan to kidnap the girl in order to extort her father,” he said.
“After Hashimu and Fatima failed to kidnap the girl, I decided to carry out the kidnapping myself. I kidnapped her when she was returning from Islamic school and took her to my family house.
“She stayed in my family house for about two weeks before I killed her. I killed her after some teachers in my school came to my house.
“I became suspicious. I thought they came to investigate me because they said the girl had once mentioned my name. It was after that visit that I gave her rat poison. I then contacted my friend and asked for his help to dig a hole where the girl would be buried.
“I demanded the sum of N6 million from the parents. I contacted them through the phone number her parents gave the school.
“This is the third school term since I have known Hanifa. I am the one that killed her. I murdered her at my family house with rat poison. I can’t remember the exact date we buried her.”
