The Bauchi State Police Command has apprehended a 37-year-old man, Abubakar Talba, on charges of kidnapping 12-year-old Mas’ud Barau and 13-year-old Ibrahim Kabiru from Daura, Katsina State,leadership reports.
Talba is also accused of sexually assaulting Barau in a mosque located in Udubo, a community within the Gamawa Local Government Area of Bauchi State. Barau, originally from Gamniya village in Niger Republic, encountered Talba at Rijiyar Zaki in Kano State after arriving in Nigeria to study Qur’an memorization.
This information was disclosed by SP Ahmed Wakil, the spokesperson for the Bauchi Police Command, in a statement to the press on Thursday.
Residents of Udubo had filed a complaint against Talba, alleging that he repeatedly mistreated the boys under the pretense of being their Qur’anic teacher. Talba had recently relocated to the community from Daura.
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During questioning, Talba admitted to attending a Quranic school in Fagge, where he met one of the victims in the Bata area of Fagge Local Government, Kano State. He reportedly enticed Barau to travel from Kano to Daura by falsely promising to help him start a business, including financial support for selling flashlights and batteries.
SP Wakil stated that the suspect will face charges in court once the investigation is concluded.
