The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Northwest University, Kano, has expressed concern that Kano is rapidly becoming a hub for phone snatchers, following the murder of Buhari Imam, a lift operator at the university.
According to a statement signed by Comrade Muhammad Jaji, chairman of SSANU at the university, Imam was stabbed to death in his home at Sheka Quarters in Kumbotso Local Government Area on June 12, 2025.
“Despite swift and immediate intervention of Good Samaritan who rushed him to AKTH, he couldn’t sustain the severe wound and later gave up the ghost,” the statement said.
SSANU described the late Imam as a young, energetic, hardworking and promising Engineer.
He was a staff member with the Directorate of Maintenance Services and had recently obtained a Higher National Diploma in Mechanical Engineering from Kano State Polytechnic.
The association condemned the act while calling on the Kano State Government and security agencies to identify, arrest, and prosecute Imam’s killers, vowing not to relent until justice is served.
“This nefarious and heinous act has confirmed the wide speculation that Kano State has now turned into a hub of phone snatchers,” the statement added.
The group stated that there are specific locations in the ancient city where residents cannot freely bring out their phones in public without fear.
“The risk of being attacked, wounded or even killed for a mobile device has become increasingly a daily affairs. Even passengers in tricycle are not left out; phone snatchers operate brazenly in broad daylight, targeting unsuspecting citizens who are simply trying to make a call. This is not just a mere theft—it is a full-blown security breach one that must be reverted before it is too late,” it said.
