Gunmen abduct hunchback in Kano

Abubakar, a recharge card seller, was abducted on Saturday by gunmen, who shoved him into a waiting vehicle and zoomed off.
Our correspondent reports that since the incident, residents of the area have been thronging the house of the hunchback, to sympathise with his family, comprising his aged mother and seven siblings. Abubakar was the bread winner of the family.
Abubakar’s younger brother, Yakubu said three gunmen forced their way into their room around 3.am on Saturday and went away with his brother.
“We were asleep when they forced themselves into our room. The three people that came into our room were carrying guns and they pointed them at me threatening to shoot me if I shout. They collected my phone, after which they went to my brother and took him away. Since he is a cripple, two of the gunmen carried him and the other one watched me all through the operation.  They threw him into a waiting car outside our house and the gunman that was watching me joined them afterwards and they left,” he said.
He added the gunmen left behind the recharge cards and the money his brother made from the previous day’s sales.
“They saw the cash and recharge cards, but they did not take them. They only went away with my phone,” he said.
The victim’s neighbour, Sani Arabi, said Abubakar may have been abducted for ritual purpose.
“Since elections are just a few days away, I suspect that he was abducted for rituals. That is why we are calling on people to pray for his release,” he said.
When contacted, spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, ASP Magaji Musa Majia, said: “We are aware of the abduction, but we don’t know the motive behind it.  We are communicating with his family and investigation is on with a view to securing his release.”