A Kano-based Islamic cleric and leader of the Hisbah Board, Sheikh Aminu Daurawa, has said the recent massacre in Kano has left him sleepless, stressing that homes are no longer safe amid rising insecurity.
Daurawa made the remarks in an emotional video clip posted online while reacting to the killing of a woman, identified as Fatima, and her six children by some youths in Dorayi Chiranchi area of Kano metropolis.
The cleric said the incident left him devastated and unable to sleep.
“I woke up after spending the night in deep sadness, pain and distress. I wished the lecture had started at the scheduled time, but sleep eluded my eyes because of the news I received,” he said.
According to him, officials of the Hisbah sent him details and images of the incident, which he described as too horrifying to comprehend.
“Imagine that you return home from the office, school, farm or from work, and you meet your wife and children laid out before you, slaughtered by terrorists, with some of them thrown into a well,” he said.
Daurawa described the incident as unprecedented in cruelty.
“I thought of Pharaoh, but even Pharaoh did not kill women; he killed men. Even in the era of ignorance, such wickedness did not combine killing a mother and all her children together. I have never read of such terrorism in history,” he said.
He said the incident showed that insecurity had reached a frightening level.
“Our homes are no longer safe. Our roads are no longer safe. You go out and someone comes into your house and kills your family,” he said, recalling similar incidents where families were attacked while breadwinners were away.
The cleric blamed the rise in violent crimes on poor upbringing and societal neglect, stressing that the perpetrators were not outsiders.
“These are children we ourselves gave birth to. We did not give them proper religious upbringing or modern education. They turned to drugs, idleness and violent content, and that is what produced this behaviour,” he said.
Daurawa said the growing pattern of violence, including cases where people kill their parents, spouses or relatives, should worry every person of faith.
“Anyone who hears this and has faith, his heart will be shaken, especially when he imagines it happening to him,” he added.
He called on security agencies to ensure the arrest of all those responsible for the killings and urged the judiciary to carry out thorough investigations and deliver justice.
“If the security agencies arrest all of them, then they have done a great job,” he said.
The cleric also faulted state governors for delays in approving the execution of convicted killers.
“Any governor who delays, even for one minute, will carry the burden of the victims on the Day of Judgment,” he said.
He warned that any governor who refuses or delays signing execution warrants for those duly convicted of murder would be held accountable.
