A Kano State High Court, presided over by Justice Usman Naabba, on Thursday, sentenced the proprietor of Noble kids College, Abdulmalik Muhammmad Tanko, 38, alongside two others, Hashimu Isyaku, 38 and to death by hanging for, kidnapping, and killing five -year old pupil of Nobel Kids College, Hanifa Abubakar.
The PUNCH reports that Hanifa was abducted on December 4, 2021, on her way home from Islamiyya and subsequently discovered to have been killed by the convict, who is her teacher and school proprietor, after demanding N6m ransom, at Dakata, Nasarawa Local Government Area of Kano State.
The convicts were on Thursday convicted to five years each for conspiracy
They conspired and kidnapped the deceased from Sheik Dahiru Bauchi Islamic Foundation, killed and buried her in a shallow grave in Northwest Preparatory school, located at Kwanar Yan Ghana, in Nassarawa LGA, Kano
To prove his case beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecution team, led by Kano State Attorney-General, Musa Abdullahi Lawan, presented eight witnesses, as well as tendered 14 exhibits.
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.