ABU Professor Killed After Mistaking Him For Boko Haram

The attack on Kibiya police station in Kano by suspected Boko Haram members has taken a new twist as it emerged that one of those killed and labelled members of the Boko Haram was Professor Ahmad Falaki, the director, Institute of Agriculture Research (IAR) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria.More Devastating Story After The CUT!!!

On Saturday around 4.30pm, suspected Boko Haram members attacked the Kibiya police station and engaged policemen in a gun battle. Policemen and villagers had on Sunday said two of the sect members were killed while running away after their defeat at the station.

Kano spokesman, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, said on Sunday that two Boko Haram members who attacked the police station in Kibiya were killed.

“The insurgents who rode on three motorcycles were ambushed by villagers who were alerted by the sporadic gunshots. They lynched one of the militants and arrested two others. Our men killed one earlier during the attack at the police station,” he had said.

However, one of the slain persons turned out to be Professor Falaki and the two persons arrested and tagged Boko Haram members were his brother, Mallam Abbas Mustapha, a retired school head master in Doguwa LGA and the second was the professor’s official driver, Lawal Ahmad.

Professor Falaki’s younger brother, Abbas Mustapha Falaki, said they were returning from Yada-Gungume in Ningi LGA of Bauchi State when they had a flat tyre.

“We had a flat tyre in Fala village of Tudun Wada LGA of Kano State while returning from Bauchi State. It was while we were there that Boko Haram members riding on seven motorcycles came to us and demanded for the professor’s Toyota Hilux vehicle. The driver looked at the professor’s eyes and he asked him to give it to them. They jumped into the car and sped off. They did not harm us as we didn’t argue with them,” he said.

He said when the militants left, the professor asked them to trek to Fala village to get another vehicle to Kano. While trekking to the village, the professor made some calls to Kano.

“When we got to the village, the people started suspecting us because some of them saw us while we were trying to change our flat tyre on the outskirts of the village. But we told them that our car had been snatched by some gunmen. The professor told them to help us get another vehicle because it was around 6.pm,” he said.

He added that while they were waiting for the vehicle, a team of policemen arrived from Kibiya and the villagers suddenly pounced on them.

“The professor quickly showed the policemen his ABU identity card and asked them to stop the villagers. But the policemen did not, and the locals continued to stab him with knives and inflict machete cuts in many places. I ran into the bush but a police officer shot at my direction.

“I thought the bullet had hit me so I fell down. The villagers came to where I was and stabbed me on my face and other places. They threw me and professor into the police van. When we got to Kibiya police division, the policemen were celebrating that they had killed Boko Haram members,” he said.

Abbas said he told the policemen that they were not Boko Haram members and that the man killed was Professor Falaki of the ABU.

“It was while we were there that the professor’s driver who ran into the bush was brought in. When operatives of the Kano Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) came, they interrogated me and the driver and discovered that we were not Boko Haram members,” he said.

He said after the SARS operatives left, the policemen at the station blindfolded him and the professor’s driver before taking them to the Kano police headquarters in Bompai. They said  that the professor’s corpse was released on Sunday around 3.pm and has since been buried in accordance with Islamic rites. Professor Falaki is survived by three wives and 18 children. The police spokesman in Kano, Magaji Musa Majia, said his earlier statement on the attack was based on the preliminary report from the scene of the incident.

 “He was stabbed severally by the mob. Our men tried to rescue him. We are not killers, we are out to protect the masses. Our further information has since revealed that they were not Boko Haram members. Their vehicle was snatched by the fleeing insurgents. We are going to investigate whether there was case of negligence on the part of our men at the station,” Majia said.

The Village Head of Fala, Mohammadu Zagina, confirmed the killing of the professor, saying policemen witnessed the mob action. Sympathizers have continued to throng the professor’s residence at Gadon Kaya area of Kano. Falaki who attended 88 seminars on agronomy both within and outside the country co-authored two books and was appointed the director of IAR in 2012. The IAR has been overwhelmed by the killing. The assistant director, extension service of the institute, Professor Mukhtar Mahmud, expressed shock over the killing.
Meanwhile, the police in Bauchi State yesterday announced the arrest of two persons over the killing of Professor Falaki.

State police spokesman, DSP Haruna Mohammed, told newsmen in Bauchi that the suspects confessed to the crime.
He said: “Gunmen suspected to be armed robbers numbering about four snatched a white Toyota Hilux with registration number 45H 07FG, property of the Institute of Agricultural Research, ABU, Zaria. The suspects snatched the vehicle at gunpoint from Professor Mustapha Falaki around Sumaila LGA after attacking Kibiya police station in Kano State. In a bid to escape, the hoodlums passed through Burra town in Ningi LGA of Bauchi State. Because the police were after them, they abandoned the vehicle, snatched a motorcycle and escaped into the bush. The entire surrounding was cordoned off by a combined team of security personnel and two persons were arrested. They confessed to have killed the professor and snatched the Hilux vehicle”.

He gave the names of the suspects as Mohammed Musa, 32, and Jamilu Idris, 33 years old.

The police spokesman said exhibits recovered include one long range riot gun, six smoke cartridges and a blood stained Toyota Hilux vehicle with registration no 45H 07FG.

“Investigation is in progress and efforts are being intensified to apprehend other fleeing suspects. We urge members of the public with useful information to assist the police”, he said.

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