I sent the money to him on Friday. That was my last interaction with him. I was called on Sunday and told that they were involved in an accident.

also gathered that the deceased cadets were all in Tama 4 in the second regular batch of the ASP trainees. This means that they had only a year to complete the respective programmes that would have qualified them to be enrolled into the Nigeria Police Force as Assistant Superintendents of Police (ASP).

In an interview, parents of the deceased cadets recounted their last moments with their children.

Abdurahim Sallau, the father of Muhammad Bello Abdulrahim, recounted how his son called him on Thursday, requesting for transport fare.

“I sent the money to him on Friday. That was my last interaction with him. I was called on Sunday and told that they were involved in an accident. When we got to the scene, we discovered that all of them had been burnt beyond recognition. We take solace in the fact that we are all from Allah and to Him we shall certainly return,” he said.

Alhaji Shehu Abdullahi Danhaya, the father of Yusuf Shehu, said he spoke with his son on Saturday when he said he would return home on Sunday. “While waiting for him to arrive, I received a call that my son was involved in an accident. As a Moslem, I believe that death is inevitable. However, as humans we are really in serious grief. But Allah knows why he took their lives at this time. We console ourselves with the fact that Allah loves them best.” The Chief Imam of Haruna Danja Juma’at Mosque, Sheikh Sani Gumi, described the death of the cadets as a great loss, considering their potentials. He said that at a time Nigeria was battling insecurity, Zaria, Kaduna State and the country as a whole needed the services of the young potential police officers.

Gumi urged Moslems and all Nigerians to take the death of the cadets as a lesson. He said that since death would not give notice of its coming, everyone should fear God and discharge their duties with sincerity.

DSP Rufa’i Suleman, who represented the management of the Police Academy at the funeral prayers, described the death