The Kano State Police Command has confirmed the death of eight of the 24 victims of the Gezawa Mosque attack, with 17 others still receiving medical treatment at the hospital.
One person was earlier confirmed dead. However, the police had arrested the suspect, Shafiu Abubakar, 38, who confessed that his actions were in revenge over a disputed inheritance, claiming he had been cheated.
However, a resident of the village Rabiu Gadan, confirmed to Leadership that 11 people have so far died due to the injuries they suffered and that the funeral of eight of them had already been conducted while the corpses of the remaining three were being prepared for burial on Thursday.
Gadan said the attack was not Abubakar’s first violent outburst as he had previously assaulted two of his older brothers and then surrendered himself to the police claiming he had killed them.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna, who confirmed the number of deaths late Wednesday, said seven more victims died while receiving treatment at the facility.
According to him, 17 other victims were still receiving treatment at the hospital.
The victims died as a result of the injuries they sustained in the unfortunate incident,” Haruna said.
It was gathered that Abubakar sprayed the mosque area with petroleum before locking the door, and setting the mosque ablaze.
The principal suspect is currently in police custody assisting them in the ongoing investigation.
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The suspect is Shafi’u Abubakar, aged 38, who said his action was purely in hostility, following a prolonged family disagreement over sharing of inheritance of which those that he alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment and he did that for his voice to be heard,” the police spokesman said.
Sadik Kamal, who spoke to newsmen, said when the flames engulfed the mosque, he desperately attempted to escape but found the exit doors securely locked.
“It was the latecomers who struggled to open the locked doors to make good the escape of those trapped to safety,” Kamal said.
