The Kano State High Court has sentenced the proprietor of Nobel Kids Academy and North West Preparatory School, Abdulmalik Tanko, to death for the kidnap and killing of five-year-old schoolgirl, Hanifa Abubakar which had generated outrage a few months ago.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Usman Na’abba, also sentenced Tanko to five years imprisonment for the four-count charges leveled against him.
Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, earlier this year had vowed to sign the death sentence without further delay if given by the court.
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Until her death, Hanifa was a pupil of Noble Kids Comprehensive College – a school located in Kwanar ‘Yan Gana in Tudun Murtala Quarters in Nassarawa Local Government Area of the state.
She was abducted by Mr Tanko who demanded ransom from her parents and was reported to have killed her in December last year.
Following the suspect’s arrest, the state government arraigned Tanko alongside two others at the State High Court.
The witnesses include the mother of the deceased, Murja Suleiman Zubair, DSS Operatives who arrested Abdulmalik, and Police officers, who investigated the case.
The exhibit tendered includes confessional statements of the convicts, photographs of the deceased, hijab, and Islamic school badges among others.
However, the prosecution failed to establish the charge of abetment against Fatima but sentenced her to one-year imprisonment for conspiracy and one year for an attempt to commit the offence.
Abdulmalik and accomplices had been standing trial for almost one year before the final verdict on Thursday to put the lingering litigation to rest.
