From Noah Ebije, Kaduna
Following the kidnapping and killing of a five-year-old, Hanifa Abubakar, by her teacher in a private school in Kano, and other similar occurrences across the country, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has tasked the Federal Government to put necessary measures in place to prevent reoccurrence of the dastardly act.
In a statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, the Forum expressed shock over anti-social and criminal acts going on in some schools in Nigeria.
The statement read in part: “The latest of these cases of horror is the alleged kidnap and murder of a 5-year old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar, by her teacher Abdulmalik Muhammed at a private school in Kwanar Dakatar in Kano state.
“This is a horror story comparable to what happened in December last year when Sylvester Oromoni a 12-year-old student of Dowen College was bullied and then tortured to death by his fellow students because he refused to join them in their cult activities.
“The Arewa Consultative Forum would like to call the attention of the authorities to this new epidemic of drugs, brutality, cults, and death which is taking over all schools across the country and endangering the lives of our daughters and sons and the future of our country.”
Similarly, concerned groups, Coalition for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa and The Unity Project Nigeria, in a joint statement yesterday, condemned the gruesome murder of Hanifa, describing the incident as a “harrowing tragedy.”
