Kano murder: IGP sues for calm, assures victim’s family of justice

By Olakunle Olafioye

THE Inspector General of Po­lice, Solomon Arase has called for calm following the extra-judicial murder of one Bridget Abahime, who was reportedly killed by a mob in Kano over alleged blasphemy.

The IGP also assured the family of the deceased and indeed the general public that justice would be done in the case. Arase in a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, equally confirmed that the Kano State Police Com­mand has arrested two key suspects in connection with the incident.

Those arrested, accord­ing to the statement in­clude Dauda Ahmed and Su­beiru Abubakar.

The statement read further: “In order to ensure a diligent and professional investiga­tion, the Inspector General of Police has directed the Depu­ty Inspector-General of Police in- charge of the Force Crimi­nal Investigation and Intelli­gence Department (FCIID) to deploy the Homicide Section of the department to immedi­ately take over the investiga­tion of the case and ensure a meticulous investigation and speedy prosecution of the ar­rested suspects.

“The Inspector General of Police has also directed the Commissioner of Police of Kano State to sustain the com­munity engagement actions which he is currently initiat­ing with all strategic security stakeholders and community leaders in the state with a view to dousing the tension being generated by the condem­nable incident. In addition, detachments of mobile and conventional police as well as the intelligence assets of the Force have been deployed to protect law abiding citizens, reassure the public, prevent the incident from degenerat­ing into a major security threat and aid the Homicide Section being deployed in the loca­tion and apprehension of other suspects who are currently at large.”

While condoling family and friends of the deceased, the Po­lice chief condemned in stron­gest terms the violation of right to life of citizens under any guise and stressed the Force’s resolve to uphold its mandate touching on criminal justice delivery in the most firm and speedy fashion in similar case and in other cases of this na­ture.

“While the members of the public will be updated on prog­ress of investigation into this case, they are advised to go about their normal activities and resist any temptation to capitalize on the incident to threaten national se­curity as any such attempt will be firmly dealt with. The Inspector General also calls on Kano State residents and indeed, all citizens to imbibe the culture of tolerance, rule of law and peaceful co-exis­tence and to trust and cooperate with the police as we strive to ensure justice in this case,” the statement read.