A 16-year-old Almajiri boy, Yusufa Mustapha has been found dead, with his eyes plucked out in Jigawa state.
The spokesman of the state command, DSP Lawan Shiisu Adam confirmed the incident in a statement saying the incident happened on Friday at about 1515hrs in a bush at Shiwarin, Kiyawa Local Government.
The police spokesperson narrated that the child told his teacher he was going into the bush to fetch firewood and that was the last time his teacher, relations and friends saw him alive.
His relations and teachers launched a search party for him when he did not return home from the bush.
When he was found, one of his eyes had been plucked. The person(s) who attacked him left him in the pool of his blood.
His teacher, whom the police identified as Mustapha, approached a nearby police station and reported the incident.
The police statement read, “That on 14/04/2023 at about 1515hrs, information at Command’s disposal revealed that one mallam Mustapha (male) of Abuja Quarters, Shuwarin Town in Kiyawa LGA reported that on the same data at about 0800hrs, one of his students (almajiri) by name Yusufa Mustapha, (male) 16 years went to the bush to get firewood.
“He didn’t come back. Later, he was discovered in the bush lying in blood. One of his eyes was removed by an unknown person. The victim was taken to Dutse General Hospital. He was confirmed dead by a medical doctor. Effort to trace the perpetrators is in top gear.”
Mustapha’s death is one of the hundreds of similar killings in Nigeria in recent years.
Killings involving the removal of sensitive body organs are usually for rituals, though the police have not confirmed the child was killed for that purpose.
