Fear Grips Kano As Ritual Killings Claim Two Children

Panic has enveloped Zango Biyu community in Rimin Gado Local Government Area of Kano State following the gruesome murder of two children in separate incidents suspected to be ritual-related.

The killings, which occurred over the weekend, have left residents in shock and despair, raising fresh concerns about rising insecurity in parts of the state.

The first victim, a five-year-old boy, Muhammad Gambo, was sent by his mother to buy powder worth ₦50 at a nearby shop on Sunday morning. When the shopkeeper declined to sell to him because the money was insufficient, the boy reportedly made his way towards his grandparents’ house. He never arrived.

Community members later found his lifeless body by the roadside. Eyewitnesses said his assailants slit his throat and allegedly drained his blood.

“They slaughtered him like a ram and collected his blood. There was no drop on the ground. They must have used a bowl and carefully wiped the knife clean before escaping,” a resident, Laminu Ahmad, told reporters, describing the chilling discovery.

While residents were still reeling from the boy’s death, tragedy struck again. On the same day, a 13-year-old girl, Fatima Sule, was strangled to death inside her family’s residence at Dandinshe Quarters in Dalal Local Government Area.

Her distraught mother narrated through tears how she had left the children at home with instructions to join their elder sister later, only to return to the shocking news of her daughter’s death.

“I was called and told that Fatima had been killed. They strangled her, broke her neck and hung her by the window. I still cannot believe it,” she said.

The twin incidents, unprecedented in the community, have triggered fears of ritual activities. Residents, gripped by anxiety, have called on security agencies to intensify efforts in fishing out those behind the heinous crimes.

The Kano State Police Command, it was learnt, has ordered the burial of the victims after preliminary investigations, even as it launched a manhunt for the killers.

Efforts to reach the police spokesman, SP Abdullahi Haruna, proved abortive as his mobile line was switched off at the time of filing this report.