A magistrate court in Kano has remanded Abdulmalik Tanko and two other suspects at a correctional centre over the alleged gruesome murder of a five-year-old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar.
On Monday, the police in Kano arraigned the three suspects before Chief Magistrate Muhammad Jibir for alleged criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, concealing/keeping in confinement a kidnapped person and culpable homicide.
Tanko, who is the proprietor of Noble Kids School, Kwanan Dakata in Kano where Hanifa was a pupil, had earlier confessed to kidnapping and subsequently killing the minor with rat poison.
However, the accused persons were not represented in court by lawyers, and immediately after the charges were read to them, the court ordered their remand at the Kano Correctional Centre.
The case had been adjourned to February 2, 2022.
There has been widespread outrage over Hanifa’s murder, with #JusticeForHanifa trending on social media for days.
The victim was kidnapped on December 4, 2021 and murdered two weeks later; her body was dismembered and buried on her former school’s premises.
Tanko was arrested by the police while trying to collect the N6million ransom he demanded from her parents.
