Mosque attack: Death toll rises to 15

The Kano Police Command has confirmed the death of 15 persons in the mosque attack in Gadan village, Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano state.

A man had reportedly set mosque ablazed after he sprinkled petrol in the worship centre and locked its doors, trapping worshippers on Wednesday.

The police command had on Thursday said 11 persons, including those who had been receiving treatment at the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital in Kano, died from the attack.

“The suspect is Shafi’u Abubakar, aged 38, who said his action was purely in hostility, following a prolonged family disagreement over sharing of inheritance of which those that he alleged to have cheated on him were in the mosque at that moment and he did that for his voice to be heard,” the police spokesman, Abdullahi Haruna, said on Thursday.

However, Usaini Gumel, the Commissioner of Police, told the News Agency of Nigeria in a telephone interview on Friday that so far, 15 out of the 24 victims of the incident died.

Gumel stated that the incident happened during a morning prayer at the mosque.

Shafi’u Abubakar, the suspect, is said to be in police detention.

The commissioner said the investigation was still ongoing.