Nigeria’s Court of Appeal in Kano has upheld the death sentence imposed on Abdulmalik Tanko, convicted of killing five-year-old pupil Hanifa Abubakar in a case that shocked the country.
Justice A.R. Muhammad dismissed Tanko’s appeal on Friday, ruling that the Kano State High Court properly evaluated the evidence before convicting him of kidnapping and murder.
Tanko, proprietor of Noble Kids Academy where the child was enrolled, abducted Hanifa in December 2021 and later killed her with rat poison after demanding a ₦6 million ransom from her family.
The incident sparked national outrage due to the victim’s age and the breach of trust by her school owner. Tanko was arraigned in January 2022 alongside two others, Isyaku Hashim and Fatima Jibril, on charges including conspiracy, kidnapping and culpable homicide.
The appellate court said the prosecution presented a compelling case and found no basis to overturn the lower court’s ruling. Hashim’s death sentence and Jibril’s two-year prison term, delivered by the Kano High Court in July 2022, also remain intact.
Justice Muhammad urged authorities to execute the sentence once all legal avenues of appeal are exhausted.
