The police in Kano State have arrested a 100-year-old suspected female ritualist, Furera Abubakar, and two others, for allegedly plucking out the right eye of a 12-year-old boy, Mustapha Yunusa.
The other suspects are Isah Hassan (17) and Sani Abdulrahman (16).
The Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Abdullahi Haruna, in a statement on Thursday, said the Almajiri boy was lured into a corner where his assailants removed his left eyeball on the orders of the woman.
The eyeball was to be used in preparing an “appear and disappear” charm.
The statement read, “On March 20, 2022, a report was received from a resident of Sheka Dantsinke Quarters, Kumbotso Local Government Area, Kano State, that an unknown person took one Mustapha Yunusa (12) to Rimin Hamza Quarters, Tarauni LGA, Kano State, used a sharp knife and removed his right eyeball and fled with it to an unknown destination.
“On receipt of the report, the Commissioner of Police, Kano State, Sama’ila Shu’aibu Dikko, raised and instructed a team of Operation Puff Adder led by CSP Alfa N. Muhammad, Divisional Police Officer, Sheka, to proceed to the scene.
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“The team immediately went to the scene and rushed the victim to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano, where a medical doctor confirmed that the eyeball of the victim was forcefully removed with a sharp object, and the victim was admitted to the said hospital.
Sustained efforts coupled with prolonged intelligence follow-ups led to the arrest of the principal suspect, Isah Hassan (17), with the help of a local vigilante on March 29, 2022.
On investigation, the suspect confessed that he met his friend, Sani Abdulrahman (16), and asked him where he could get a charm that would make him disappear whenever he wanted.
“Sani directed him to his aged grandmother of 100 years old, Furera Abubakar. The principal suspect further confessed that he met Furera and she instructed him to bring the eyeball of a human being to her so that she could prepare the charm for him.
“He went and deceived a street beggar (Almajiri), lured him to a nearby bush, tied his hands and forcefully used a sharp knife and plucked out his right eyeball. He took the eyeball to Furera and she told him to bring N500.
“As he did not have the money, Furera told him to keep it in a safe place and bring it when he had the money.
“He kept it for three days. Later, he discovered that the eyeball had decayed and he threw it away. Furera was subsequently arrested.”
