The Alkasim family, residing in the Bakin Kura area of the Bauchi metropolis, has said the gruesome murder of their 18-month-old Muhammad will never be forgiven nor forgotten as his mutilated body has been buried after it was discovered eight days later.
The decomposing body of the toddler was discovered at a private NCE awarding institution operating temporarily within the premises of the Government Day Secondary School, Games Village, where his mother is one of the students and from where he went missing and was later found dead.
Saudat Abdullahi Ahmad, 21 years old, is a student of the private NCE awarding institution, and on the 19th of August 2023, she went to write her test alongside her little boy. While writing the test, the boy went out twice to play outside the classroom, and she went out to bring him back.
Young Mohammed Abideen Alkasim, according to her, went out for the third time, and she was about to finish writing the test, so she rushed to complete writing before she came out and to her greatest shock, young Mohammed Abideen Alkasim was nowhere to be found.
While narrating what happened, a visibly depressed Saudatu said “I always go to school where I am studying for my National Certificate in Education (NCE) here in Bauchi Metropolis.’
She added, “On Saturday, 19th/08/2023, we went to school together with Abideen. I was in the class writing a test. He went outside to play, and I went to bring him back. He still did the same thing, and I went and brought him back for the second time; the third time that he went outside I was almost through with the test, so I decided to finish it before going out to bring him back.”
“After I was through, I went outside to look for him but I couldn’t find him. I saw his shoes put across one of the class windows and I thought he was there. I went in and asked but nobody seems to set his/her eyes on him and I went round all the classes but couldn’t find him. Then, I came back to our class and asked my classmates whether he has come back, but they said they’ve not seen him,” She added amidst sobs.
The grieving mother said that,”I then came back and reported the situation to our lecturer and he directed all the students to go round looking for him in which all of them did so, the boys in our class went across the culverts and all the classes, we went round with my female classmates but yet no one seems to find or saw him.”
“I went and reported the situation to our Dean Students Affairs and he immediately went to the community leader’s house and the nearest Police Station and reported the incident that occurred” Saudat Abdullahi Ahmad stressed.
The 21 year old sober mother added that they later called the husband to inform him about the unfortunate situation and he came together with his friend, and the searched for Mohammed Abideen continued but to no avail. After about eight days, his corpse was found and some vital parts of his body have been removed.
Malam Alkasim, the father of the deceased in a telephone interview said that the corpse of his son was found without his two eyes, his face and his private part.
“What happened to us was very shocking, and we give Allah the glory. We pray Allah to grant his soul ALJANATUL FIRDAUS, but it is one of my terrifying moments,” Alkasim added.
Upon receiving the news, State Governor Sen Bala Mohammed visited the immediate family at Gidan Bare Bare in the Bauchi metropolis to condole with them, where he read riot acts on the activities of miscreants.
He was accompanied by the state police commissioner CP Awwal Musa Mohammed, the Director State security service, and the governor directed for the immediate closure of the institution, calling on security agents to intensify the investigation and bring the perpetrators to book.
The Governor said that, “On behalf of myself, the Government, and the people of Bauchi state, we wish to condole with this family. This is the highest of insecurity my administration and the security agents are working daily to address, but parents must be very vigilante.”
He directed, “Ensure you take your children to reputable and recognized institutions which we have in the state with adequate security. We are not discouraging the establishment of private schools, but they operate in line with the established guidelines.”
Bauchi State Commissioner of Police CP Awwal Musa Moham
The stressed that, “Iam not happy with this situation, and I have directed the ministry of education to close the school until further investigation.”
mad said the Command got to know about the unfortunate incident on social media, urging people of Bauchi state to always support security agents with useful information on the activities of men of the underworld.
” We saw this incident on social media where we immediately swung into action by taking the mother’s statement, visited the school site where we alleged there is laxity on the side of the school management in terms of security,” CP Awwal Musa Mohammed stressed.
He then appealed to people of the state to always report cases of this nature directly to the police and other security agents for prompt response.
The Commissioner of Police further appealed to the general public to be calm as the Command is already tracking those suspected to be responsible for the gruesome murder of a baby boy in Bauchi and promised to leave no stone unturned until the victim gets justice.
According to the PPRO, SP Ahmed Wakili, preliminary investigations revealed that the toddler (victim) Muhammad Abideen ‘m’, aged 18 months, was with his mother, Saudatu Abideen, aged 21 years of Bakin Kura area of Bauchi when he went missing in the 19th of August, 2023.
Subsequently, the Abideen’s remains were dumped at a soak-away situated in the Games Village area of the Bauchi metropolis, which was exhumed and buried by the deceased’s parents.
The Command commensurates and condoles the family of the deceased. May Allah (S.W.A) give them the strength and fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss. And, for the deceased, may Allah (S.W.A) make Aljannatul Fiddaus be his final abode.
The Commissioner of Police Bauchi State Command CP Auwal Musa Muhammad psc, unequivocally condemned the ruthless and terrible act exhibited by the anonymous underworld, promising to trace and clampdown on the perpetrators to allow the law to take its course.
The Command has constituted an investigative committee headed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), DCP Yakubu Mohammed to thoroughly investigate the circumstances surrounding the murder of the boy and fish out whoever is directly or indirectly connected to this act and charge to court.
The Command calls on the general public particularly parents to be very vigilant on their wards and continually cooperate with the Police by reporting any suspicious person or object to the nearest Police station.
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