Police spokesperson SP Nafiu Habib said the firearm belonged to 35-year-old hunter Suleiman Hamza, who had returned from a hunting trip and stepped out after leaving the weapon loaded in his room. Habib said Mubarak entered the room, pulled the trigger and sustained injuries that proved fatal. Officers from the Gamawa Divisional Police Headquarters rushed the boy to the General Hospital, Gamawa, where a medical doctor pronounced him dead.
After a post-mortem examination and documentation, the boy’s remains were released to his family for burial according to Islamic rites. Habib said Hamza was arrested and the matter has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further inquiry.
The police command also reported foiling an armed robbery on the Kajala-Kere road on the outskirts of Burra late on Saturday at about 9:45pm. A gang armed with cutlasses and sticks intercepted Ado and three other male residents of Kere village and dispossessed them of two Bajaj motorcycles, two Android phones and a power bank. A combined team from the Burra Division and local vigilantes mobilised after the report, forcing the suspects to flee into surrounding bush and abandoning the motorcycles, which were later recovered.
Commissioner of Police CP Sani-Omolori Aliyu praised the swift action that disrupted the robbery and expressed sorrow over the death of the teenager, calling it preventable. The command urged hunters and licensed firearm holders to keep weapons out of children’s reach and reiterated its commitment to protecting lives and property, while continuing the search for the fleeing suspects and remaining stolen items.
