By Henry Okonkwo
Officers of the Kano State Police Command have arrested Fatima Salisu, the 35-year-old woman, who has been on the run after she allegedly stabbed and attempted to murder an eight-year-old girl.
In a statement issued on Friday by the command’s spokesperson, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, the police disclosed that they learned of the incident on Sunday at about 6:40 p.m. after receiving a distress call from a good Samaritan who heard a loud cry of a girl from an uncompleted building located at Kureken Sani in Kumbotso LGA, Kano State.
According to SP Kiyawa, the witness went to the site and saw the girl in a pool of blood with a sharp knife inserted in her stomach and other injuries on her body.
SP Kiyawa stated that on getting the report, their men moved in to save the little girl by rushing her to the Mallam Aminu Kano Specialist Hospital where she was admitted for quick medical attention, while the Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Usaini Gumel, ordered the immediate manhunt for the perpetrator(s).
According to the police, the rescued 8-year-old girl, Sharifa Usman, of Gadon Kaya Quarters, Gwale LGA, revealed that the attack was carried out by Fatima Salisu after she took her from her home to an unfinished building in Kureken Sani Kumbotso LGA and stabbed her on her neck and stomach, leaving the knife stuck in her stomach, abandoning her and fled the scene.
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He said, “At the preliminary investigation, the husband of Fatima, one Yusuf Aminu, of Gadon Kaya Quarters, Gwale LGA, Kano State was arrested. He claimed that his wife, Fatima has evidence of a mental disorder and is unaware of her whereabouts. Sustained follow-up coupled with intelligence-led operations led to the arrest of the suspect, Fatima Salisu, 35 years old of Gadon Kaya Quarters, Gwale LGA Kano State at a hideout in Dungulmi Village, Isari District, Dutse LGA, Jigawa State on 18th May 2023.
“At this moment, the suspect is undergoing investigation at the Police Command’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) by the Homicide Section. While the suspect has since confessed to committing the crime, she further stated that she committed the act as revenge, because the father of the girl has been advising her husband to marry a second wife.
“However, the ongoing discreet investigation is seeking for answers to the following questions in order to dispute the crime cover-up of the statement earlier made by her husband.
i. Why did the suspect take the child from Rijiyar Zaki in Gwale LGA down to Kureken Sani Quarters in Kumbotso LGA?
ii. Why did the suspect seclude the little girl to an uncompleted building in a faraway location?
iii. Why did the suspect run away to a far location (Jigawa State) after the commission of the crime?
iv. Why did the suspect refuse to disclose her location to her husband, children and relatives after escaping from the crime scene?
“While praying and wishing for the quick recovery of the 8-year-old Sharifa, the Commissioner of Police appreciates those that assisted with the information that led to the arrest of the suspect. The case will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation”.
