WHY I CONFINED WORSHIPPERS WITHIN AND STARTED FIRE AT KANO MOSQUE – SUSPECT

Babatunji Wusu –

The motive for Shafi’u Abubakar’s action, the suspect detained for torching a mosque and locking worshippers inside in Gezawa Local Government Area, Kano state, has been made public.

Shafi’u used gasoline to start the fire when about forty worshipers were inside the mosque praying. He locked the door to keep the congregants inside and prevent them from fleeing the flaming edifice.

On May 15, 2024, a Wednesday, 24 people were attacked and suffered varying degrees of burns.

After being saved, the victims were taken to Kano’s Murtala Muhammad Specialty Hospital, where they are currently receiving care.

After completing the deed, Shafi’u voluntarily turned himself in to the police, according to a statement released on Wednesday by SP Haruna Kiyawa, the spokeswoman for the State’s Police Command.

According to SP Kiyawa, the suspect claimed that his actions were motivated only by animosity after a protracted family dispute over inheritance distribution.

In order for his voice to be heard, he said, Abubakar claimed that people with whom he had an affair were there in the mosque at that same moment.

He said, “The principal suspect has been identified and arrested, he is Shafi’u Abubakar, aged 38 years, who said his action was purely in hostility following a prolonged family disagreement over sharing of inheritance of which those that he alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment and he did that for his voice to be heard.”