By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The controversy trailing the killing of a five-year-old school pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, of Noble Kids Academy took a new twist yesterday as angry youths, in droves, set the school on fire.

The school, located in Kwanar Dakata community in Nassarawa LGA, was, according to an incident narrative, mobbed by hundreds of suspected hoodlums who milled at the premises chanting.

As the gale of destruction went on, it was learnt that no security men were on sight to stop the destruction of the school where windows were shattered and part of the roof burnt.

Hanifa was reportedly kidnapped in December 2021. The little girl was later discovered to have been killed by Abdulmalik Tanko, who had reportedly ‘held her captive’ for 47 grueling days, awaiting exchange for N6 million ransom.

Apparently, due to the inability to provide the proceeds of the lucre, the teacher allegedly killed the girl and buried her remains in the school premises.

The parents of the girl, it was gathered, had ended up only paying N100, 000 before the girl was killed and secretly buried.

The proprietor, Tanko, was said to have confessed to abducting the girl, after which he demanded N6m ransom.

The murder has triggered the call for public execution of the perpetrator by the nation’s first lady, Aisha Buhari; and a farther-ranging issue of withdrawal of operational licences of all private schools in the state.

Groups, civil, human rights, as well as religious and sundry, have been calling for the head of the alleged bloodhound, Tanko, the school’s headmaster, who was credited with the killing of the infant.

Follow-up reports say the police eventually discovered the schoolgirl’s decomposed body on Thursday, January 20, 2022. The suspected killer was arrested, and the school closed the next day.

•Govt revokes operational licences of all private schools
Kano State Government, yesterday announced that it had revoked the certificates of operation of all private schools in the state, for revalidation.
The state Commissioner for Education, Muhammad Sanusi-Kiru, announced the policy of certificate withdrawal to private schools, at a briefing with newsmen in Kano.

Sanusi-Kiru categorically hinged the decision by the state government on the murder of Hanifa, allegedly by the proprietor of the school.

The commissioner said the withdrawal of the certificates of operation of the private schools was to allow for revalidation and screening of the proprietors of the schools.

“All the certificates issued to private schools in the state are hereby revoked. The ministry has constituted a committee that will look into the registration of all private schools. The ministry will bring out criteria for the recertification of all private schools, which include the Ministry of Justice and Department of State Services (DSS),” he said.

LCCI recommends phased fuel subsidy removal

The committee, he added, also included the police, Fire Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Kano State Road Traffic Agency, and other government officials.

Meanwhile, the school owner has been paraded by the Kano State Police Command.

•First Lady, Aisha Buhari, NCWS others seek justice
There have been strident calls for justice for the late Hanifa. The National Council of Women Societies (NCWS), in a statement by its National President, Mrs Laraba Shoda, in Abuja described the incident as tragic.

The council demanded that the accused be brought to book for terminating the life of an innocent child placed in his care for academic development.

According to Shoda, “It is unfortunate that Nigerians are, once again, made to experience the painful loss of another child in an environment where they ought to receive protection.

“The kidnap and eventual murder of Hanifa by her teacher after collecting a ransom of N6m from her parent is one of the most inhuman acts of wickedness.

“The killing of this innocent Nigerian child by the proprietor of her school is a gross betrayal of trust which the little girl and her parents reposed in the institution.”

The NCWS president expressed worries about the increasing cases of killings for ritual purposes that have assumed a frightening dimension in Nigeria.
She recalled the case of an Internally Displaced Person (IDP), Aisha Umar, who was reportedly lured and raped by a humanitarian provider, which led to her committing suicide in Borno State

Describing the situation as a sorry case, Shoda said, “As mothers and women, we are in pain that this is no longer the Nigeria we grew up to know.

“A Nigeria where the care for the younger generation was the responsibility of all adults and the community as a whole.”

The NCWS described the death of Hanifa as one too many, “as children are the most vulnerable in the society and depended on adults’ protections for their development”.

The groups added, “A situation where caregivers that should protect and care for children become predators is certainly unsustainable and need urgent actions.”

Shoda, on behalf of the council, appealed to the Federal Government to put more effort to address the increasing insecurity in schools and the country at large.

She also called on the government to embark on a nationwide assessment of schools to ensure that they remained conducive and safe for learning.

“We must secure justice for Hanifa and others. We need to lay an indicator that no family will be made to question the decision of enrolling their ward in a school that is not safe,” she said.

Meanwhile, the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has supported the call for capital punishment for Hanifa’s killer.

In a post written in Hausa on Sunday, she expressed her support for the cleric’s judgment.

“We support the judgment of mallam,” the president’s wife stated.

Also in a video, a cleric, who spoke in Hausa, was heard saying that capital punishment should be meted out on the killer of Hanifa.

“He should be separated from this world the same way he separated this girl from the world and it should be done publicly,” the cleric said.

He further stated that capital punishment would serve as a deterrent to others who have the intention of carrying out such dastardly acts.

“He should be killed for all eyes to see so that tomorrow, nobody carries out such act,” the cleric stated.