From Mustapha Adamu, Kano
Kano state Police Command has confirmed the burning of a mosque while worshippers were praying in Kano state.
In a statement by the Police spokesman, Abdullahi Kiyawa in Kano on Wednesday, said the command received a report at about 5:20am that there was an explosion at a Mosque in Gadan Village, Gezawa LGA, Kano State during “Subhi Prayer” and that some people got injured.
On receipt of the report, according to Mr Kiyawa, a Superintendent of Police, SP, immediately deployed the command’s combined teams consisting of experts in Explosive Ordnance Disposal Chemical Biological, Radiological and Nuclear, EOD-CBRN, led by CSP Haruna Isma’il and other Crime-Scene Policemen, led by Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Gezawa Division, CSP Haruna Iliya.
He said the scene was cordoned-off while 24 victims, including 20 male adults and 4 male children were removed and rushed to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano where they are currently receiving treatment.
Mr Kiyawa disclosed that forensic analysis at the preliminary stage revealed a suspected petrol explosion of which full investigation ongoing.
The spokesman revealed that the principal suspect, one Shafi’u Abubakar, had been identified and arrested.
Mr Kiyawa said the suspect, 38 years old confessed that he set the mosque ablaze over a prolonged family dispute on inheritance sharing.
The suspect, according to Mr Kiyawa, alleged to have been cheated by some family members who were among the worshippers praying before the attack.
Meanwhile, one person had been confirmed dead by the Police in the state .
Assistant Inspector General of Police , Zone One, Umar Sanda made this known when a delegation of security personnel, including the Commissioner of Police and the Director DSS visited the victims at Murtala Muhammad Specialist hospital on Wednesday.
He said, the incident was not associated with any act of terrorism but rather, “it was a skirmish that aroused as a result of inheritance distribution.
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