High court, sitting in Kano has fixed April 12 and 14 for the continuation of the hearing in the ongoing trial of Abdulmalik Tanko, a school proprietor, who allegedly murdered a five-year-old pupil, Hanifa Abubakar.
Gatekeepers News reports that the prosecution counsel, Deputy Director Public Prosecution Kano State, Rabi Shehu-Ahmad presented the late Hanifa’s mother as one of the seven prosecution witnesses.
Shehu-Ahmad also tendered 17 text messages, as exhibit at the resumed sitting for the continuation of the hearing on Wednesday.
Murja Suleiman in her testimony told the court that she is the biological mother of the late Hanifa, adding that she handed over Hanifa to her proprietor, Abdulmalik, at the Noble Kids Comprehensive College.
The 38-year-old maintained that on December 4, 2021, at about 8 am she took the late Hanifa to Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Islamiyya School and the school normally closes at 5:30 pm.
She started that her neighbour’s daughter, Maimuna Abubakar, after closing from the Islamiyya school ran to the house and informed her that a tricyclist had gone with Hanifa, and Hanifa told her that it was her uncle that had taken her.
In a sober reflection, the deceased mother told the court that on January 2, 2022, she received a call that the victim was with them and demanded a N6 million ransom.
“After 28 days of Hanifa’s abduction, I saw a black leather in front of my house containing her cardigan, school badge, and printed black and white picture of my daughter,” Hanifah told the court.
The defence counsel, M. L. Usman, however, told the court that he was not ready for cross-examination and asked for an adjournment to enable him to prepare for the defence.
Consequently, the presiding judge, Justice Naabba, adjourned to April 12 and 14 for cross-examination and continuation of the hearing.
