Hanifa Abubakar’s death in Kano in December 2021 began as a kidnapping case. It became a murder investigation, a national outcry, a courtroom battle and, years later, an appellate case that kept the child’s name in Nigeria’s legal record.
Five year old Hanifa Abubakar left for her Islamic lessons in Kano in December 2021 expecting to return home.
She never did.
For her family, the first days were dominated by uncertainty. Then came the demand for ₦6 million.
What made the case especially disturbing was the identity of the man eventually placed at its centre. Abdulmalik Mohammed Tanko was not an unknown kidnapper who had suddenly appeared in Hanifa’s life. He was a school proprietor connected to the school she attended.
The investigation that followed would uncover a shallow grave on school premises, trigger the closure of private schools across Kano for a revalidation exercise, provoke angry youths to burn the school where Hanifa had been buried, and eventually lead to death sentences for Tanko and Hashimu Isyaku.
But the story is more complicated than the first police confession that shocked the country.
Tanko later changed his account in court and denied responsibility for Hanifa’s killing. The prosecution was therefore required to prove the case through evidence. It called nine witnesses and tendered 14 exhibits before closing its case.
On July 28, 2022, the Kano State High Court convicted Tanko and Isyaku and sentenced them to death. Fatima Jibril, the third defendant, received a two year prison sentence.
Tanko later appealed.
On December 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano dismissed his appeal and affirmed the death sentence.
Hanifa’s disappearance had begun with a missing child.
It ended as one of Kano’s most closely followed criminal cases of the decade.
The December Disappearance
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Hanifa was five years old when she disappeared in Kano State.
Contemporary court reporting identified December 4, 2021, as the date of her abduction. She had been returning from an Islamiyya, or Islamic learning, session when she was taken.
The circumstances were particularly troubling because the alleged abductor was someone she knew.
Abdulmalik Tanko was the proprietor of Noble Kids Comprehensive College, also referred to in contemporary reports as Noble Kids Academy. The school was located around Kwanar Dakata in Nassarawa Local Government Area of Kano.
The police investigation eventually alleged that Tanko took Hanifa to his residence and contacted her family.
The demand was ₦6 million.
At first glance, it appeared to be another kidnapping for ransom in a country where such crimes had become an increasingly serious security problem.
But the investigation would soon reveal a different and much darker chain of events.
The Ransom Demand
According to the account released by the Kano State Police Command in January 2022, Tanko demanded ₦6 million from Hanifa’s family.
Police spokesman Haruna Kiyawa said investigators discovered that Tanko had taken Hanifa to his house after the abduction and had contacted her relatives.
The police account further stated that Hanifa was killed after Tanko realised that she recognised him.
The investigation placed the date of her death on December 18, 2021, although court reports contained differing accounts of the exact sequence and dates surrounding the kidnapping, killing and burial.
That difference is worth preserving because the case was later argued in court, where the prosecution had to establish the facts through admissible evidence rather than through headlines or early statements.
The Discovery That Changed Everything
The search for Hanifa eventually led investigators to a school compound.
Her remains were found buried in a shallow grave within the premises of a private school at Kwanar ’Yan Gana, Tudun Murtala, in Nassarawa Local Government Area.
The discovery was devastating for a family that had spent weeks hoping the child would return alive.
It was also a turning point in the investigation.
The location of the burial made the case even more disturbing because the premises were associated with Tanko’s school operations.
The police alleged that Tanko had conspired with Hashimu Isyaku to bury Hanifa there.
The revelation immediately generated outrage across Kano and beyond.
The Confession That Shocked Nigeria
On January 21, 2022, police publicly presented Tanko after his arrest.
According to the police account, he confessed to kidnapping Hanifa and demanding ₦6 million from her family.
He also confessed to killing her with rat poison and burying her in a shallow grave.
The police said Tanko had explained that he killed Hanifa after realising that she recognised him.
News reports at the time also quoted details from the statement he gave investigators, including his claim that the poison had cost ₦100.
Those details quickly became part of the public memory of the case.
But there was an important legal development that would follow.
A confession reported by police is not the same thing as a final judicial finding.
When the case reached the High Court, Tanko changed his position.
The Story Changed in Court
In February 2022, Tanko pleaded not guilty to the principal allegations concerning Hanifa’s kidnapping and killing.
The change was significant.
The man who had been presented to the public after an apparent confession was now disputing the prosecution’s account in court.
Tanko and Isyaku admitted the first count of criminal conspiracy but denied the remaining allegations. Fatima Jibril denied all the charges against her.
Tanko later gave the court a different version of what happened.
In his defence, he admitted that he had taken Hanifa but disputed the prosecution’s account of how she died.
His testimony presented a markedly different narrative. He told the court that Hanifa had been left at his school and that he later found her unresponsive. He also maintained that the other defendants did not know the circumstances surrounding her death.
The prosecution challenged this account during cross examination.
This was where the case moved away from the initial shock of the confession and into the more demanding territory of criminal justice.
The question was no longer simply what Tanko had allegedly told investigators.
The question was whether the evidence presented in court established his criminal responsibility beyond the required legal standard.
Nine Witnesses and Fourteen Exhibits
The prosecution eventually closed its case on April 12, 2022.
It had called nine witnesses and tendered 14 exhibits.
The defendants subsequently presented their own evidence, with the three defendants serving as defence witnesses.
The prosecution relied among other things on statements and evidence concerning the kidnapping, the concealment of Hanifa’s body and the roles attributed to the defendants.
One particularly important piece of evidence discussed during the proceedings was a confessional statement attributed to Isyaku concerning the burial of Hanifa’s body.
The defence, however, asked the court to discharge the defendants.
The case therefore became a contest between two versions of events.
The prosecution said the evidence established kidnapping, conspiracy and culpable homicide.
The defence disputed the prosecution’s account and sought acquittal.
The court had to decide which account was supported by the evidence.
The School Became a Symbol of the Tragedy
While the legal process continued, the physical location connected to Hanifa’s death became a focus of public anger.
On January 24, 2022, angry youths set fire to the school where her remains had been buried.
The school, identified in contemporary reports as Noble Kids Comprehensive College or Noble Kids Academy, was located in Kwanar Dakata.
The fire was a dramatic expression of public anger, but it also demonstrated how quickly the case had moved beyond the courtroom.
For many people, the most painful element was the relationship of trust involved.
Parents send children to school believing that teachers and school administrators are responsible for their safety while they are there.
In Hanifa’s case, the person accused of taking her was the proprietor of the school with which she was associated.
That transformed the case from a story about kidnapping into a wider conversation about trust and the responsibility of people who work with children.
Kano Responded by Targeting Private Schools
The Kano State Government responded with measures that extended beyond the specific school involved in the case.
The government ordered the closure of the school where Hanifa had been buried and withdrew its operating licence.
Then, on January 24, 2022, the state announced the withdrawal of certificates issued to private schools across Kano and introduced a revalidation process.
The state education commissioner said the process would establish criteria for recertification and that a panel involving government and security agencies would examine private school operations.
The response reflected a concern that went beyond one criminal prosecution.
If children were being entrusted to private educational institutions, the state wanted greater scrutiny of the institutions and the people operating them.
Hanifa’s death had therefore produced consequences far beyond the courtroom.
The Case Reached the High Court
The Kano State Government eventually prosecuted Tanko, Isyaku and Fatima Jibril before the Kano State High Court.
The charges included criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, unlawful confinement and culpable homicide, with the prosecution relying on provisions of the Penal Code applicable in Kano State.
The trial proceeded through several months of evidence.
The prosecution closed its case after calling nine witnesses and presenting 14 exhibits.
The defendants then gave evidence in their defence.
After the final addresses, Justice Usman Na’abba fixed July 28, 2022, for judgment.
For Hanifa’s family, the date represented the culmination of months of investigation, grief and waiting.
July 28, 2022: The Judgment
On July 28, 2022, Justice Usman Na’abba delivered judgment.
Abdulmalik Tanko and Hashimu Isyaku were sentenced to death by hanging.
Fatima Jibril received a two year prison sentence.
The sentences reflected the different findings made against the defendants rather than treating all three as legally identical participants in the crime.
The judgment brought the first major legal chapter of the Hanifa case to an end.
But it did not end the case itself.
A death sentence can be challenged through the appellate system.
Tanko and Isyaku eventually took that route.
The Appeal Came Two Years Later
In October 2024, reports emerged that Tanko and Isyaku had filed notices of appeal challenging their convictions and death sentences.
Their lawyers argued that the High Court’s decision should be overturned.
The appeal brought the case back into the legal spotlight more than two years after the original judgment.
By then, the immediate public anger that had surrounded Hanifa’s death had largely faded.
The legal process had not.
For the families involved, however, the case remained unfinished.
The Court of Appeal Decision
On December 30, 2025, the Court of Appeal sitting in Kano delivered its decision on Abdulmalik Tanko’s appeal.
The appellate court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the death sentence imposed by the Kano State High Court.
Justice A. R. Muhammad held that the lower court had properly applied the law and evaluated the evidence before it. Reports of the judgment stated that the appellate court found the grounds of appeal without merit and saw no sufficient reason to interfere with the lower court’s decision.
The court also indicated that enforcement of the sentence would follow the exhaustion of any remaining legally available avenues of appeal.
The ruling was significant because it meant that the conviction and sentence imposed on Tanko in 2022 had survived appellate scrutiny.
The case had now travelled from a missing child report in Kano to police investigation, a High Court trial and an appellate judgment four years later.
What Happened to the Other Defendants?
The three defendants did not receive identical outcomes.
Abdulmalik Tanko was sentenced to death.
Hashimu Isyaku was also sentenced to death by the Kano State High Court.
Fatima Jibril received a two year prison sentence.
That distinction is important because the public often remembers a criminal case through its principal suspect, while the legal outcomes for other defendants can become blurred in later retellings.
The court’s different sentences reflected the different findings and liabilities attributed to the defendants.
The later Court of Appeal reporting primarily focused on Tanko’s appeal and the affirmation of his sentence.
Why Hanifa’s Story Still Matters
Hanifa’s death was not simply another kidnapping case.
The circumstances touched several parts of Nigerian society at once.
There was the vulnerability of children.
There was the problem of kidnapping for ransom.
There was the trust parents place in teachers and school proprietors.
There was the question of how private schools are monitored.
There was also the difficult distinction between what investigators say happened and what a court ultimately establishes through evidence.
That last point is particularly important in remembering Hanifa’s case.
The first account that reached the public came through the police investigation and Tanko’s reported confession.
The courtroom later produced a more complicated record, including a change in his testimony and competing accounts of what happened.
The High Court nevertheless convicted Tanko and Isyaku after hearing the evidence.
The Court of Appeal subsequently affirmed Tanko’s sentence.
Those judicial findings now form the central legal record of the case.
A Child Behind the Headlines
It is easy for a case like this to become defined entirely by its murderer, its courtroom proceedings and the shocking details of the investigation.
But at the centre of everything was a five year old girl.
Hanifa had a family waiting for her.
She had lessons to attend.
She had a route home.
Her disappearance interrupted an ordinary routine and turned it into a tragedy followed by years of legal proceedings.
That is why the story should not be remembered merely as the case of a school proprietor who received a death sentence.
It should also be remembered as the story of a child whose death exposed weaknesses in the systems and relationships adults depend upon to keep children safe.
From a Missing Child to a National Case
The journey of the Hanifa case can be traced through a sequence of events that were each shocking in their own right.
A child disappeared in December 2021.
A ransom demand followed.
Investigators connected the case to someone known to the child.
Her remains were discovered in a shallow grave on school premises.
The school was closed.
Angry youths burned the property.
Private schools across Kano were subjected to a revalidation process.
Three defendants were prosecuted.
Two received death sentences.
One received a two year prison sentence.
The principal defendant appealed.
And in December 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld his sentence.
The case therefore outlived the headlines that first made Hanifa’s name known across Nigeria.
The Lasting Lesson of Hanifa Abubakar’s Death
Hanifa’s story remains painful because the promise surrounding a child’s journey to school is so ordinary.
Parents expect their children to return.
Communities expect schools to be places of learning.
Teachers are entrusted with children because families believe that trust will be respected.
When that trust is broken, the consequences reach far beyond one family.
Hanifa’s death forced Kano to confront questions about who is allowed to operate schools, how children are protected and what happens when someone placed in a position of trust becomes the subject of a criminal investigation.
Four years after her death, the legal case had still not disappeared.
The Court of Appeal’s December 2025 ruling demonstrated that the story did not end with the discovery of Hanifa’s body or even with the 2022 death sentence.
It continued through the courts.
And behind every judgment, every exhibit and every headline was the same five year old child whose family had once been waiting simply for her to come home.
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Author’s Note
Hanifa Abubakar’s story is ultimately a story about a child, a family’s trust, and a criminal case that exposed the devastating consequences when that trust is betrayed. Her disappearance in December 2021 led investigators to her remains, brought three defendants before a Kano court, prompted government action on private schools, and produced death sentences that later survived appellate review. Remembering Hanifa means remembering more than the circumstances of her death. It means remembering the responsibility carried by every adult entrusted with the safety and care of a child.
References
Channels Television, “Kidnapped Five Year Old Girl, Hanifa Murdered By Teacher,” January 20, 2022.
Channels Television, “Kano Govt Closes School Where Five Year Old Hanifa Was Killed, Buried,” January 21, 2022.
Channels Television, “Hanifa Abubakar: Kano Arraigns Three Suspected Killers In Court,” January 24, 2022.
Channels Television, “Hanifa Abubakar: Youths Burn School Where Pupil’s Body Was Buried,” January 24, 2022.
Channels Television, “Kano Govt Revokes Licences Of Private Schools,” January 24, 2022.
The Guardian Nigeria, “Hanifa’s Murder: Kano Govt Files Five Counts Before High Court,” February 2, 2022.
The Punch, “Kano Principal Recants, Denies Killing Hanifa, Accomplice Disowns N6m Ransom Statement,” February 15, 2022.
The Cable, “Court Sentences Self Confessed Killer of Hanifa to Death by Hanging,” July 28, 2022.
The Punch, “Hanifa Abubakar’s Killers Seek to Overturn Death Sentence,” October 14, 2024.
The Guardian Nigeria, “Killers of Five Year Old Hanifa Move to Upturn Death Sentence in Kano,” October 15, 2024.
Nigerian Eye, “Kano Appeal Court Upholds Death Sentence for Hanifa Abubakar’s Killer,” December 31, 2025.
Lawyard, “Court of Appeal Upholds Death Sentence on Abdulmalik Tanko for Murder of Hanifa Abubakar,” January 2026.
