Headlines
Police arrest 4 suspected kidnappers including a woman terrorising Zamfara, Kano
Nasiru Yusuf
Police in Kano have on Wednesday paraded four suspected kidnappers including a 23 year widow Maryam Muhammad, of Butsa Village, Gusau, local government area of Zamfara State.
Parading the suspects, police spokesperson in Kano Abdullahi Haruna said the accused were arrested on Friday at a rented apartment located at Jaba Quarters, Ungogo local government area where they held hostage Mohammed Sanusi and demanded ten million Naira ransom from his parents.
He explained that the police have successfully rescued the victim unhurt after a fierce gun duel with the kidnappers.
Mr Kiyawa recalled that on January 12 one Sunusi Ado of Galadanchi Quarters, Gwale local government area of Kano state reported that his 29 year old son, Mohammed Sanusi, was kidnapped and a ransom of ten million Naira was demanded.
“Upon receipt of the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State Command, CP Habu A. Sani, psc, raised and instructed a team of Operation Puff Adder, led by DSP Shehu Dahiru, to arrest the culprits.
“The Team swiftly swung into action, and following credible intelligence, on 15 January, 2021, that is 3 days after the report, raided a rented apartment located at Jaba Quarters, Ungogo LGA of Kano State where the victim was held hostage.
“The gallant team cordoned the area, engaged the occupants of the house in a fierce gun duel, successfully rescues the victim unhurt and arrested the suspects,” Mr Haruna said.
Other aspects arrested beside Ms Muhammad are Sani Ibrahim and Shamsuddeen Suleiman all of Butsa Village, Gusau local government area Zamfara State and Ishaq Khalil, of Rijiyar Lemo Quarters, Fagge local government Kano State.
All the suspects according to police spokesperson confessed involving in series of kidnappings in Kano and Zamfara states.
Mr Haruna added that the police have recovered one AK-47 rifle, one Magazine loaded with 30 rounds of Live Ammunition and an unregistered motorcycle.
According to police spokesperson investigation revealed that Maryam’s husband, Sani Ismail of of Niger state, was a Notorious cattle rustler, killed in Zamfara state while carting away rustled cows.
Mr Kiyawa told journalists that after the death of Ms Muhammad’s husband, her brother, Hamza Dogo, also a notorious kidnapper relocated her to Kano where she rented apartments in Unguwa Uku, Panshekara and Maidile Quarters.
According to police findings Ms Muhammad later moved to Jaba Quarters and rented another apartment for six hundred thousand Naira per annum, which she turned into a kidnappers den.
How they trapped the victim
Ms Muhammad revealed that on January 12, around 8 pm, she contacted the victim via his mobile phone and told him to bring her a new Samsung handset for her to buy at sixty five thousand Naira.
Maryam Muhammad
She disclosed the victim drove his Toyota Vibe Motor Vehicle to the apartment. They opened the gate of the house, and as soon as he entered, the four of them attacked him, tied him up, took his Motor Vehicle to Zamfara State and contacted his family for ten million Naira Ransom.
Ms Muhammad disclosed that though, they demanded ransom, their plan was to kill him after collecting the ransom, because the victim knows the apartment and recognizes them.
She recalled that, on October 2, last year, they have kidnapped one Shafiu Umar, of Naibawa Quarters, Kumbotso local government area of Kano state, and held him hostage in Zamfara State.
She also confessed that they collected a ransom of ten million Naira, a brand new motorcycle and Toyota Corolla LE worth two million, five hundred thousand Naira.
The police said they have recovered the Toyota Vibe Motor Vehicle from one Ishaq Yusuf of Gidan Dawa Quarters, Gusau, Zamfara state on Monday January 19.
Mr Kiyawa told journalists that the Kano state Commissioner of Police Habu Sani has ordered for discrete investigation for the Police to arrest accomplices of the syndicate and recover their operational weapons.
He advised Kano residents to be extra careful in renting apartments to strangers.
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
In a bid to ensure the smooth conduct of the ongoing Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) examination, the Kano State Government has temporarily suspended the April 2025, End of month sanitation exercise.
KANO FOCUS reports that this decision was taken after careful consideration and consultation with relevant stakeholders, in an effort to allow students of Kano State to write their examination without any hitches.
In a statement issued by the Director Public Enlightenment of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, Ismail Garba Gwammaja has quoted the Commissioner of Environment and Climate Change Dr. Dahiru M. Hashim saying that:
“The suspension is aimed at preventing any potential disruptions to the examination process and ensuring that candidates can sit for their exams without any hindrance.”
The Commissioner assured residents that the suspension is temporary for this month, and that the sanitation exercise will resume in its full force next month May 2025, in the state.
The Commissioner however, appeals to residents to cooperate with the authorities and understand the rationale behind this decision.
“We are committed to maintaining a clean and healthy environment, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that our sanitation activities do not conflict with other important events in the state,” the commissioner said.
While Commending the residents for their understanding and cooperation to the present administration, urged them to continue to avoid indiscriminate dumping of waste and cooperates with our sanitation staff to ensure clean and healthy environment always, and pray for the successful conduct of students who will sit for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
The Kano State Chapter of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has inaugurated a security committee aimed at strengthening community-based responses to insecurity in the state and wider northern region.
KANO FOCUS reports that the committee was inaugurated on Tuesday at the ACF Secretariat by the Chairman of the ACF Board of Trustees in Kano State, Brigadier General Haliru Akilu (Rtd), who said the initiative was a strategic response to Nigeria’s growing security challenges.
Gen. Halliru Akilu inaugurating Gen. Idris Bello Dambazau while Dr Goni Faruk Umar is watching
Akilu described the committee as a platform for strategic engagement, grassroots intervention, and policy articulation to support formal security institutions.
“This committee is envisioned to serve as a fulcrum of strategic engagement and community-driven security intervention. It symbolizes our collective resolve to restore order and peace to our communities,” he said.
He noted that the committee draws membership from various security and paramilitary agencies including the NDLEA, Police, Hisbah, Civil Defence, FRSC, NAPTIP, and vigilante groups.
Gen. Halliru Akilu delivering his address
According to him, the committee is tasked with assessing the evolving security landscape in Kano and beyond, acting as a bridge between citizens and security agencies, and developing actionable, data-driven recommendations to promote peace, vigilance and resilience across ethnic, religious, and political divides.
General Akilu stressed that the committee must operate beyond bureaucratic routines and ensure its insights influence national policy. He also urged members to demonstrate integrity, confidentiality, and dedication.
Chairman of the committee, General Idris Bello Dambazau (Rtd), pledged to uphold the mandate of the committee with seriousness and discipline.
Gen. Idris Bello Dambazau (Rtd) granting interview to journalists
“We’re bringing the seriousness of military service into this assignment. Time in service is life. One minute can cost lives. That’s how seriously we’re taking this task,” he said, adding that the committee was set to begin work immediately.
On his part, the NDLEA Commander in Kano, Ahmed Idris, commended the synergy among security agencies in the state and expressed optimism that the ACF’s initiative would serve as a model for other states.
Cross section of members of the security committee
“In Kano, we’ve built a strong culture of collaboration. This committee reflects that spirit and the quality of its membership shows the seriousness of the ACF,” he said.
KANO FOCUS reports that the initiative comes as Kano and other northern states are facing security threats such as banditry, kidnapping, drug abuse, and youth radicalization. Observers say the ACF’s grassroots-focused approach could offer a much-needed complement to conventional security responses.
Gen. Halliru Akilu (rtd) inaugurating Gen. Idris Bello Dambazau (rtd)
Speakers at the event called for similar committees to be replicated across other states in the region, with hopes that the Kano model would become a blueprint for wider regional intervention.
Members of the security committee and ACF officials
General Akilu closed the event with a call for the committee to chart a new course for peace and security in the region, describing the inauguration as “a bold first step.”
Nasiru Yusuf Ibrahim
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has urged the Kano State Government to declare a state of emergency on polio and routine immunisation due to the resurgence of circulating vaccine-derived polioviruses (cVDPVs) in the state.
KANO FOCUS reports that with18 polio cases recorded across nine states, including three in Kano, UNICEF Acting Chief of Field Office, Michael Banda, emphasized the need for urgent action. “Polio knows no boundaries. An outbreak anywhere threatens children everywhere,” he said.
Senior Education Manager and Officer-in-Charge, UNICEF Field Office, Kano, Michael Banda, made the revelation during a media dialogue on polio and routine immunization in Kano.
Mr Michael Banda
According to Banda, Kano accounted for three cases uncovered in Warawa, Nasarawa, and Bunkure local government areas of the state, amid zero immunization and misconceptions against the deadly infection.
cVDPV refers to a type of poliovirus that arises from the oral polio vaccine (OPV), used in the prevention of polio.
According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), on rare occasions, the weakened virus in the OPV can mutate and begin to circulate within a community, causing infections and potentially paralysis, similar to wild poliovirus.
Although Banda reminded that polio has been the leading cause of paralysis and death among children, he affirmed the disease is on the brink of eradication with vaccination of 3 billion children globally in the last 37 years.
The UNICEF boss, however, worried that the fight against polio is not over in some countries, including in Nigeria, because of low vaccination rates, thereby paving the way for polio outbreaks.
Banda explained that there is a collaboration with the Kano State Government through the Primary Health Care Management Board to broaden public knowledge on the potency of the vaccination.
He added that the media dialogue was targeted to solicit media support in raising awareness and mobilizing parents on the polio vaccination campaign in Kano ahead of World Immunization Week, beginning from 24th and 30th April 2025.
On her part, representative of Kano state Primary Healthcare Management Board, Hajiya Saadatu Ibrahim, identified challenges of hard-to-reach settlements, missing houses, zero-dose vaccination, and poor healthcare workers as major setbacks.
Hajiya Saadatu Ibrahim,
She reassured that the government has a renewed strategy to overcome the challenges, including a new method of recruiting immunization workers and the involvement of external supervisors
She said Kano State Government will immunize 4.1 million under five children.
A polio vaccination campaign is scheduled for April 24-30, 2025, coinciding with World Immunization Week. UNICEF is collaborating with the state government to raise awareness and mobilise parents.
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