Asmau: Unending case of infanticide

Wednesday, January 26, 2022 1:50 pm

Shuaibu Waalamu and Halifa

By Richard Elesho

This seems to be a season of anomie for children. Since the closing days of the year 2021, Nigerians have regularly been assaulted with rampant perilous tales of crimes against the innocent demography.

It started with the unfortunate death of Sylvester Oromoni, the bullied student of Dowen College. Then, eight children were found dead in a parked vehicle at a Badagry, neighbourhood in Lagos. The icing of the cake is the ordeal of Hanifa Abubakar, the five year who was abducted and killed by her school teacher.

Nigerians were still grappling with the absurdity of innocent Hanifa’s fate, when another tale of perversion and infanticide broke.

This time of Asmau, an eight year kid who was abducted and killed by a neighbour, in Zaria, Kaduna State.

Shuaib Wa’alamu father of the girl narrated his ordeal to journalists in Kaduna on Saturday. Listen to him.

“My daughter was abducted on the 9th of December, 2021and when she failed to return home, I lodged a formal complaint with the police.

“After some days, the abductors began to call my number and demanded N15m. But we negotiated and I first gave them N2m.

“They collected the money in Rigasa area of Kaduna. Later, they called me again and demanded for another N1.045m as the only condition to release my daughter. I did not argue. But I gave the money to them.

“However, after paying the ransom as demanded on the 19th of January, they called me to tell me they killed her and switch off the phone. You see, from the initial stage, I was following her abductors and doing their bidding because of the fear of losing her. Now, they have killed her.

“I know those who abducted her and killed her. They are around us. I have strong evidence. I have told the police. And they are on it. In fact, the suspects have been arrested.”

The story was first broken by one Musa Ahmed, a friend of father of the unlucky girl and shared by Hausa Fulanii on Instagram.

The post reads, “My friend’s daughter, an eight-year-old girl, had been kidnapped on her way to buy a recharge card in our neighbourhood.

“She was for the past 42 days with her abductors who demanded the sum of N3m which was given to them, but sadly, they killed the girl eventually.”

“It was said that perhaps the girl recognised her abductor who happens to be residing close to their house. In fact, she was playing with his kids almost everyday.

“They called her father demanding for additional money which he obliged and sent someone with the money.

“In the event of waiting for them, the guy was so furious because of the cool weather at night. He called the father and informed him he hasn’t seen anyone yet.

“Then, the father called the number and asked them to tell him the truth if they have killed the girl. Lo and behold, they said, they have killed and buried her in a shallow grave, four days ago.”

The Kaduna State Police Command was yet to respond on the claims at the time of this report.