The subject of a monarch’s mortality in most African societies is regarded as a taboo, and seldom spoken in public. For this, it was not difficult to fathom how the alleged confession by a 19-year-old man, who claimed to have been sent to assassinate the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, after Friday prayers last week, quickly threw up suspicions in various quarters of the teenager’s mental health status. The dominant argument infers that the young man must be mentally unbalanced.
Usman Musa stood up inside Kano Central mosque, just few rows from where the emir was seated and announced to the astonishment of those present that he was on a mission to assassinate the 80-year-old monarch. Not done with exposing his mission and giving himself in, Musa named and pointed to one Alhaji Abubakar Hamid, a long time marabou of his family, who was also in the place of worship, as his accomplice.
A pistol-shaped object and three live rounds were recovered on the first suspect right on the scene, while he alerted police investigators to the presence of a cache of other ammunition and a gun in the house of his alleged accomplice located in Batakaye, a sprawling settlement on the outskirts of Kano metropolis. Within minutes, a search warrant had been executed on the house, which however yielded no incriminating material, according to the state police command.
Friday’s attack was said by some to be the second on the life of Alhaji Ado Bayero in recent years in the first mosque. Other said it was in fact the third attempt.
The scenario of the attack, as outlined by Musa, was not going to involve firing the bullets found on him, as the object he concealed in his clothes was not a gun and could not “shoot”. He was however, to “strike” the emir with it, after he had completed reciting a particular prayer as allegedly directed by his accomplice. The prayer, which was meant to guarantee the success of the mission, was to be recited 12,000 times, before commencement of the Friday prayers.
Similarly, Musa disclosed that Alhaji Hamid gave him an amulet, with which possessed the power to make him vanish after executing his mission. Alhaji Hamid has denied all the allegations.
While Alhaji Hamid, 65, denied knowledge of, or involvement in, any plot to kill the Emir of Kano, Musa was persistent in maintaining that the apparent mission was entirely the latter’s idea, and accused him of harbouring ill-will against and blaming not just the traditional ruler, but also other constituted authorities for the perceived wrongs in the society, and expressing his disapproval of them. He however, claimed that he was not aware if the old man had been preaching such ideology to other people, especially the children learning Qur’anic education under the Malam.
There was consensus however between Alhaji Hamid and Musa’s family on the timeline that a relationship began between the two families, much as they also agreed that the bond started when Musa approached Hamid for spiritual assistance some 10 years ago.
According to Hajiya Amina Yusuf Mailafiya, Musa’s mother, she was first introduced to the marabou by a relation, and from then on, she had had recourse to take her son, Musa, to him in search of spiritual cure for his “stubbornness.”
She further disclosed that at a certain point, she had to offer to put the boy under the care of the marabou, but she said Alhaji Hamid turned her down; the boy remained in her custody. Corroborating Hajiya Amina, Alhaji Hamid told Weekly Trust that he had on several occasions given the boy portions of scripts from the Holy Qur’an to drink. But Musa claimed that the marabou fed him with other substances for protection, the result he said was that he would reveal whatever was happening around his mother and his family to the Malam. Also, Hajiya Amina alleged that Alhaji Hamid had cast a spell on some of her children, citing an example of one of her sons, Faruk, who she said was on admission at a psychiatric hospital. She said Faruk used to be ‘normal’ until Alhaji Hamid bewitched him.
Musa told Weekly Trust that his mother tried in vain to stop him from going to Hamid, when she said she noticed that he was being led astray. “On noticing, she wanted to separate us; I stopped telling mother any of my dealings with Malam, because she went to the point of beating me, to see that stopped associating with him,” he said.
Hajiya Amina also differed with the marabou on the length of time he had not seen her son. She dismissed Alhaji Hamid’s position that he lost contact with the boy seven years ago, saying it was a move by the marabou to get himself off the hook. She said that her son was closer to the malam than he was to her, and the two had never at any point stopped relating. “He hypnotized and pushed him to commit the act. Otherwise, my son is not an enemy of the emir. The old man asked him to execute the heinous act, so he should be held responsible for that,” she said. She further accused Hamid of sending the boy with charms to bury inside her house at Dorayi.
But denying the allegations, Alhaji Hamid said only few days before the failed attack, he advised Musa on the significance of according respect to parents because it was the only way one could be successful in life.
He also dismissed the allegation of instigating attack against the emir, explaining that as a Muslim he had been taught to respect rulers and not to accommodate any ill-feelings towards them.
Hajiya Amina disclosed that before the incident, her child had been exhibiting strange behaviours, which she blamed on the spell allegedly cast upon him. She disclosed, for instance, that she had to send the suspect packing from her home when three days to the mosque attack he descended on his younger sister and beat her to a pulp. She said the attack on the girl indicated a change in attitude for her.
On the day of the attack, it was gathered Musa went to his mother and asked for her forgiveness as well as informed her that he planned to take a trip to Abuja. She recalled giving him some money for transportation, only for her to be informed by the police later that her son was arrested trying to kill the emir of Kano. She said on hearing the news, her mind went to Alhaji Hamid.
Musa’s father abandoned the family over two decades ago, Hajiya Amina disclosed. She said all attempts to trace his whereabouts failed, thereby forcing her to take responsibility for the upkeep of the family. “I have been able to take care of my children principally because God and one of my ex-husbands have been supporting me. This house you are seeing was bought for me by my ex-husband and he also gives me monthly allowance for my upkeep and that of my family,” she stated.
After attending Kubwa Primary in Abuja and Government Secondary School, Stadium Kano, Musa could not continue with his education due to lack of funds, his mother said, saying he took to travelling around the country and selling snacks.
The 19-year-old suspect also claimed to have been sent to Abuja on several occasions by the marabou on missions to rob people and bring the money to him, adding that few days to the mosque attack he robbed a man of N3.2 million at Jabi Park in the Utako District of Abuja.
Since the emir attack, the argument that both Musa and Alhaji Hamid may me mental problems has been gaining grounds. It was gathered from a police source that the two have been sent to a psychiatric hospital in the state for examination.
All effort to locate the residence or friends of Alhaji Hamid by our reporter failed as it appeared obvious that residents didn’t want to speak about the attack or be identified with the suspects.
However, the Kano police command has beefed up security around the emir, especially at the Juma’at mosque. The command’s spokesperson, SP Baba Mohammed Azare, told Weekly Trust that ten policemen from the mobile division have been deployed to the palace in addition to the security personnel on ground. He explained that during inspection visit by the police commissioner to the mosque last week, new security measures requiring every worshipper to drop his luggage at the door before entry was approved, just as barrier is to be erected to separate the emir’s front row from the remaining worshippers’.
The acting senior councillor in the emir’s palace, Professor Isa Hashim, urged the police to do thorough a investigation to fish out the alleged masterminds of the episode. Professor Hashim, who disclosed that he has personally interviewed the suspects at the police headquarters, said the police should ask Hamid to reveal the person that sent him, since he has been fingered by the principal suspect, Musa.