An elderly Islamic cleric, identified as Ladan Zubairu, was killed on Monday morning at the Yusuf Garko Mosque in the Maraba Quarters area of Kano State while calling worshippers to prayer.
Eyewitness accounts indicate that the attacker was immediately chased by residents and killed by an angry mob. His house was also set on fire, triggering panic in the neighbourhood before security operatives arrived and restored calm.
Speaking to journalists, the deceased’s son, Isa Kasim, said his father had stepped out at dawn to perform his usual duty of calling Muslims to prayer. He explained that after making the first call, his father would normally sit briefly to recite prayers before the second call.
According to him, the attacker entered the mosque shortly after the first call, seized the cleric and slit his throat.
“He had just finished the first call and was seated when someone came into the mosque with a weapon and slaughtered him,” Kasim said.
He added that youths in the community quickly mobilised and pursued the suspect, eventually killing him before he could escape. Residents later reportedly found the severed throat of the cleric wrapped in a nylon bag inside the attacker’s pocket.
Confirming the incident, the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said officers were deployed promptly to prevent further violence and restore order in the area.
He noted that calm had since returned to Maraba Quarters, adding that the bodies of both the victim and the suspect were recovered and taken to the Mohammed Abdullahi Wase Teaching Hospital for autopsy.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, has ordered a full investigation into the incident, assuring residents that anyone found responsible would be held accountable.
Police authorities have also urged members of the public to remain calm and cooperate with investigators by providing useful information.
The killing has revived concerns over the safety of religious leaders in the state. In a similar incident in September, the family of another Islamic cleric in Kano protested his death in police custody, alleging torture while he was being held by the State Criminal Investigation Department.
