By Peter Onyekachukwu 
By Peter Onyekachukwu, Minna
The decomposed body of an Islamiyya teacher, Mallam Awwal Yakubu, who went missing last Thursday, has been found in an uncompleted building at the Talba Housing Estate in Minna, Niger State.
Yakubu, a father of seven and operator of an Islamiyya school in the Barikin-Saleh area, was discovered on Sunday morning with his private parts burnt. A pack of matches was also reportedly found beside the body.
A community leader, Mallam Mahmud Dalhatu Iya, said residents alerted him after perceiving a foul smell in the building.
He told News men that relatives later identified the body, adding that it had been prepared for burial according to Islamic rites.
“My attention was drawn to a decomposed body in an uncompleted building in our estate. We reported the matter to the police, and while we were there, someone came and said he was the deceased’s friend, confirming he had been missing since Thursday,” he said.
The spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement.
According to him, police operatives from Kpakungu Division recovered the body after receiving a report around 10 a.m. on Sunday.
He said the remains were later identified as those of Auwal Yakubu, 45, who lived in the same area.
Abiodun added that the body was suspected to have been dumped at the site, as the deceased had been declared missing since December 4.
He said the corpse had been evacuated to the hospital, while an investigation had begun to determine the cause of death.