Thirteen-year-old Nura Muhammad’s past is scarred by trauma. He fled his village in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State after the community was invaded by a group of terrorists, leaving him without parents or a home. Nura had no choice but to move to Sokoto metropolis to start a new life.
“I don’t even know where they are,” Nura said when asked about his parents’ whereabouts. He said he doesn’t know if they survived when their community was attacked in early 2023.
Nura had previously studied the Quran, and as a result, he was easily accepted as a new student at an informal Islamic institution in Sokoto. Before fleeing his village, he had studied up to the sixth Hizb (section) of the Quran.
Arrest and detention
Nura lost his freedom in July 2024 when he and three friends – Ahmad Abubakar, Ibrahim Shuaibu and Ibrahim Umar – were arrested. According to Nura, the police raided their home while they were asleep, taking them to Kwani police station in Sokoto State.
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“They (the police) brought Keke Napep (tricycle); and we were not told anything regarding why we were being arrested at that moment. We didn’t know who made the report, and the police didn’t even let us take our clothes or shoes,” he recounted.
Later, the police accused Ahmad, one of his friends, of stealing cans of milk from a shop in Tsohuwar Kasuwa (Sokoto old market). Nura said the police did not reveal who filed the report nor did they allow the boys to explain their side of the story.
“They just took us straight to court without contacting our parents or guardians. From there, we were sent to the Sokoto Remand House in July without any trial,” he said, adding that the court told them to return in two weeks, but they had already spent over a month in detention with no clear timeline for the next hearing of their case.
The remand house is under the regulation and supervision of the Sokoto State Ministry of Social and Humanitarian Affairs.
Read more: https://dailytrust.com/how-nigerian-children-languish-in-jail-without-trial-conviction/