Elderly Cleric Killed Inside Kano Mosque as Mob Lynches Suspect
By Staff Reporter
An elderly man identified as Ladan Zubairu was killed inside Yusuf Garko Mosque in the Maraba Quarters area of Kano metropolis on Monday morning.
Witnesses said the incident occurred shortly after dawn prayers, when the deceased had gone to the mosque to call worshippers to prayer.
According to the victim’s son, Isa Kasim, his father had completed the first call to prayer and was seated inside the mosque reciting supplications when the attacker struck.
“After making the first call, he usually sits briefly before the second call. He had just finished and was seated when someone entered the mosque with a weapon, grabbed him and slaughtered him,” Kasim said.
He explained that the assailant slit the cleric’s throat before fleeing the scene.
Following the attack, an angry mob reportedly pursued the suspect, caught him, and lynched him. The suspect’s residence was also set ablaze, triggering panic within the neighbourhood before security operatives intervened.
“By the will of God, the attacker did not escape. Members of the community gathered, tracked him down and killed him,” Kasim added.
He further disclosed that after the suspect was killed, residents discovered the severed throat of the cleric wrapped in a nylon bag inside the suspect’s pocket.
Confirming the incident, the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said police officers promptly moved to the area to restore order.
“Our officers quickly intervened to restore calm and prevent further escalation. Normalcy has now returned to Maraba Quarters,” Kiyawa said.
The police recovered the bodies of both the victim and the suspect and conveyed them to the Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital for autopsy.
According to the police spokesperson, the Commissioner of Police in Kano State, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the incident.
“We are committed to ensuring that anyone found culpable will face the full force of the law,” Kiyawa added.
Authorities have urged residents to remain calm and cooperate with investigators by providing relevant information that may assist ongoing inquiries.
This incident adds to a growing list of violent attacks involving clerics in Kano State. In September, the family of an Islamic cleric, Salim Usman, protested his death while in police custody, alleging that he was subjected to torture.
Usman, an imam from the Kuntau community in Gwale Local Government Area, reportedly died while being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department.
