Yashir Abubakar, a 38-year-old Islamic teacher was arrested by the operatives of Kano Police Command for eloping with an 11-year-old girl.
Abubakar explained he wanted to marry the minor, saying he was attracted to her “at first sight.”
Prior to that, the suspect had allegedly convinced the girl to escort him to a place before suddenly eloping with her to Kebbi State.
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He would later be arrested in Kebbi after the girl’s father reported the case to Kano Police Command.
The command’s spokesma, Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, explained that the girl’s father did not hesitate when Abubakar wanted to go out with his daughter. Being a Quranic teacher, the father felt secure.
Also a fraudster
Kiyawa added that the suspect, who claimed to be a Quranic teacher, was also guilty of swindling millions of naira from some people.
This coupled with the elopement crime, forced the acting Commissioner of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Finance and Administration, Abubakar Zubairu, to order policemen to track the suspect.
Following a coordinated operation, the police apprehended Abubakar at Yauri, Kebbi State and brought him back to Kano.
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Investigation by the police also revealed that the suspect first came to Kano with a 21-year-old girl, simply identified as Wurera. According to the police, he claimed the girl was his wife, but findings revealed that he lied. “They are not legitimately married,” the police spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the Kano State commissioner of police had instructed that the case be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.
‘I regret’
Abubakar who hailed from Zamfara State said he regretted his actions, saying they were blindly taken without thinking about the consequences.
He would blame his predicament on a disorganised polygamous family system where his mother’s halves waged war against him and the mother.
This, according to him was worsened by his father’s response to the faceoffs. He claimed that the enraged father asked him to leave the house afterwards.
His words: “My father was the one who taught me to be a Mallam. I also learnt the teachings from a Mallam in Gusau for two years.
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“I came from Warri to Tundun Wada in Kano where my uncle lives. I rented a place and was staying with Wurera whom I made my uncle and others to see as my wife. I was helping goat traders to sell the animals so as to get some payment as a middle man. I was also engaged in Quranic teaching.”
On the 11-year-old girl he took away, Abubakar said: “I just fell in love with her with an intention to marry her, but I took her to Yauri in Kebbi State without the consent of her parents. However, I have not had any sexual relationship with her. I only enrolled her in a school.”
However, the suspect admitted to obtaining money under false pretence but did not specifically say how he did it.
