THE Jigawa State Police Command has launched a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of a 16-year-old poor student (almajiri) in the state.
In a statement obtained from the Command by The ICIR on Saturday, April 15, the child told his teacher he was going into the bush to fetch firewood.
That was the last time his teacher, relations and friends saw him alive.
His relations and teachers launched a search party for him when he did not return home from the bush.
When he was found, one of his eyes had been plucked. The person(s) who attacked him left him in the pool of his blood.
His teacher, whom the police identified as Mustapha, approached a nearby police station and reported the incident.
The spokesperson of the Jigawa State Police Command, Lawan Shiisu Adam, sent graphic pictures of the dead boy to The ICIR with the police statement on the incident. The pictures, taken at the hospital, were too gory to publish.
The police statement read, “That on 14/04/2023 at about 1515hrs, information at Command’s disposal revealed that one mallam Mustapha (male) of Abuja Quarters, Shuwarin Town in Kiyawa LGA reported that on the same data at about 0800hrs, one of his students (almajiri) by name Yusufa Mustapha, (male) 16 years went to the bush to get firewood.
“He didn’t come back. Later, he was discovered in the bush lying in blood. One of his eyes was removed by an unknown person. The victim was taken to Dutse General Hospital. He was confirmed dead by a medical doctor. Effort to trace the perpetrators is in top gear.”
Mustapha’s death is one of the hundreds of similar killings in Nigeria in recent years.
Killings involving the removal of sensitive body organs are usually for rituals, though the police have not confirmed the child was killed for that purpose.
In February 2022, The ICIR reported the National Assembly calling for a state-of-emergency declaration on ritual killings in the country.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2023. Contact him via email @ mfatunmole@icirnigeria.org