Operatives of the Kano State Police Command have arrested a 17-year-old Isah Hassan, popularly known as Shahidai, for allegedly removing an eye of a 12-year-old Mustapha Yunusa, for a ‘disappearing charm’ in Dan Tsinke, Tarauni Local Government Area of the state.
According to the teenager, a 107-year-old traditional herbalist, Sayyada Furera Abubakar, ordered him to bring the eye for the charm.
But Sayyada denied the accusation levelled against her, saying she only wanted to assist Shahidai with traditional medicine.
She said: “I am just a traditional herbalist. He’s lying. I have more than 50 grandchildren and I did not remove theirs. Why should I do that?”
Speaking with Daily Trust, the father of the boy, Dahiru Ahmad, said: “I received a call that my son is at the Murtala Hospital.
“Upon arrival, I was told that some bad eggs ambushed, attacked and removed his eye.
“We thank God, with the aid of the police and the medical personnel, they have tried their best and the boy has recovered now surviving with one eye.
“Yesterday, around 1am, I received a call that the boy who removed my son’s eye has been arrested and he has confessed that he committed the offence.
Ali Abdulhamid, the Vigilante commander of Dan Tsinke who arrested the culprit, said: “We arrested Shahidai along the border of Kumbotso and Tarauni.
“He removed the boy’s eye two weeks ago and to God be the glory, we arrested him while trying to remove another one.
“One of our personnel reported the case to us that one boy wants to commit a crime and is asking for his support to do it.
“He told us the nature of the crime and we asked him to go ahead and play along.
“From there, he asked him to come along with a knife that he will use in removing the eye and still we asked him to give him and followed them behind to the crime scene where we successfully arrested the culprit.”
The State police spokesman, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, who confirmed the incident said the police is investigating the case and will charge the suspects to court at the end of the investigation.