The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has attributed the recent murder of a woman and her six children in Kano to the growing menace of drug abuse, urging urgent community intervention to curb the trend.
The victims, identified as Fatima Abubakar and her six children, were brutally killed last week at their home in the Dorayi Chiranchi quarters of Kano metropolis.
At a joint press briefing held in Kano on Sunday, the Kano State Chairman of ACF, Dr. Goni Faruk Umar, said such a heinous act could not have occurred without the influence of illicit drugs.
“Once you see somebody slaughtering children like this, he must be under the influence of drugs or be part of a cult organisation,” Dr. Umar said.
The briefing was organized in collaboration with Muryar Matan Arewa (Voice of Northern Women) and the League for Societal Protection Against Drug Abuse (LESPADA).
Dr. Umar lamented the lack of community intervention during the attack and stressed the need to revive community policing initiatives.
“Every community should consider policing its area. We will establish a committee that brings together traditional, religious, and community leaders to form a strong force vigilant over movements in their respective areas,” he stated.
He also called on the government to regulate the sale of firearms, ensure proper documentation of buyers, and implement thumbprint registration for residents to aid criminal identification.
Dr. Umar further revealed that the ACF, through Awkat funded by AARNU, plans to provide interest-free loans of ₦100,000 each to 1,000 youths before June to empower them and reduce their vulnerability to crime.
The ACF chairman commended the Kano State Government and security agencies, particularly the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), for the swift arrest of the suspects involved in the killings.
In her remarks, Binta Mukhtar Shata, Executive Director of Muryar Matan Arewa, said the meeting was convened to allow mothers to collectively seek lasting solutions to insecurity affecting families.
“Societal values have changed. Mothers are now afraid of their children. We want justice for the perpetrators, and we want them punished,” she said, adding that the group would hold such engagements annually to strengthen family values.
Also speaking, Maryam Hassan, Executive Secretary of LESPADA, said the incident had shaken residents within and outside Kano State.
“Government is trying, but it cannot do it alone. Communities must step in, especially in tackling drug abuse, because no sane person will kill another without the influence of drugs,” she said, linking thuggery, phone snatching, and violent crimes to substance abuse.
The organisations jointly called for sustained collaboration between government, communities, and civil society to address drug abuse and restore safety and moral values in society.