Report: 11-year-old boy in Abuja tries to burn down mosque during prayers

by Chi Ibe

 

Photo: African spotlight
Photo: African spotlight

A boy was arrested in Abuja  Friday afternoon trying to set a mosque on fire while Muslims said their Jumat prayers around 1pm, reports say.

Aged 11, he was caught at the Area B/C Mosque, near Customs Quarters in Nyanya, Abuja by a guard who was on his break sleeping inside.

Imam of the mosque, Zubairu Mohammed, reportedly said that the boy had earlier set fire to one of the Mosque’s Qur’anic classroom and the security man after extinguishing that fire, spotted him with a gallon of fuel and a box of matches near the main Mosque.

He was caught and the guard alerted the Imam thereafter. “The incident happened during the time of Jumat Prayers (1:30 pm) and it was my security who first alerted me before I rushed down to see the boy with a gallon and box of matches,” the Imam said.

Mohammed also said that he insisted that the boy was in the mosque security’s custody while he went back in to complete the Jumat service.

The matter was then reported to a senior  clergyman who decided to call the police.

According to reports, Sergeant O. Ibrahim of the Nyanya Police Station  said that the boy confessed to have had an accomplice, a student of one of the secondary schools in Nyanya, but had escaped when he was caught.

“The boy is with the juvenile section of the station and we are investigating the matter because it is very serious,” the police officer said.

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