Residents of Hausa Quarter in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, are yet to grapple the circumstances that propelled a 20-year-old pregnant housewife to take the life of her stepdaughter, whose mother had separated from her husband before he married her.
Sunday Sun gathered that the victim, Khadija Abdulrahman, aged three, was abducted from her grandmother’s room about 9pm on the ill-fated day two weeks ago, by her stepmother, Hadiza Mohammed, but later found dead in an uncompleted building close to the bank of the River Benue.
Her stepmother, who is suspected to have perpetrated the gruesome act, is said to be four months pregnant and presently in police custody, assisting homicide detectives in their investigations. Sources at the Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) admitted said she has admitted to committing the crime.
Elder brother of the deceased’s father, Jemilu Abdulahi, told Sunday Sun that though his brother had about three years ago, divorced his first wife and married Hadiza two years later, he had earlier this year reconciled with Khadija’s mother and was planning to take her back. This, he said, didn’t go down well with Hadiza.
Narrating in tears how the little girl was abducted and murdered, he alleged that the step-mum from hell committed the abominable act because she got wind of her husband’s plan to take back his estranged first wife.
His account: “Based on what people at home told me, my brother’s wife came to the family house on the invitation of my mother who wanted to settle a misunderstanding between her and her husband.
On her arrival, she pretended to go and pray inside a room where the girl was, took her away and didn’t come back with her; but unknown to her, somebody saw her while she left with the baby.
“After about three hours, the suspect appeared and when asked about the girl, she said she did not know her whereabouts and claimed to have gone to our neighbour’s room to watch television. The neighbour said she was only there for a few minutes and left.”
Jemilu added that efforts to prevail on her that night to disclose the whereabouts of the girl proved abortive, as she refused to own up to the crime until Khadija’s lifeless body was found in an uncompleted building. He alleged that a close observation of the scene of crime indicated that her assailant might have used a hijab to strangle the young girl.
Noting that vengeance is for God, he said the family is not interested in pursuing the case, but demands that Islamic justice prevailed. “We are not interested in the case because we know that we will only suffer ourselves to go to court, but will not get justice in the end.
What we are asking is that as Muslims, everything has judgment. If anyone takes the life of another person, the best thing is for him or her to be killed or her family would pay a very huge amount of money which I know that Hadiza’s parents cannot afford.”
Also commenting, the Sarkin Hausawa, superintending over affairs of the Hausa community in Makurdi Local Government Area of Benue State, Alhaji Rayanu Sangami, said once the girl’s corpse was recovered, Hadiza was held and taken before him, during which she confessed to the crime in the presence of leaders of the community.
Sangami noted that but for his swift action, supported by leaders of the community, angry youths in the area would have stoned the suspect to death. “She confessed to the crime and we had a hard time preventing the angry youths from stoning her to death. We had to quickly invite the police who came and took her into detention.
This is the first time this kind of incident is happening in our community and we are not taking it lightly,” he stressed, wondering why a Muslim woman would take life as a result of envy over marriage when the Islamic religion permits a man to marry as many as four wives.
He described the act as a very serious offence that required a serious action, disclosing that he is in the process of organizing Imams for a ward by ward preaching and prayers to forestall a reoccurrence, just as he urged the security agencies, government and the judiciary, to do justice to the case.
Confirming her arrest, the Benue State police command said the suspect would face the full wrath of the law, on completion of investigation. Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Adat Ududo, who spoke with Sunday Sun described the act as wicked. He hinted that the suspect had already been arraigned in court, assuring that the law would take its course.
“Individuals are very bad and wicked. Jeremiah 17:9-10 says the heart of a man is very wicked. People should be good and the community will be peaceful. The police are not happy to see this kind of crime. The law will certainly take its course in this. It is annoying. The woman is already in court to serve as a deterrent to others,” he said.
Sadly, the suspect was unrepentant when Sunday Sun correspondent encountered her. While affirming her displeasure with her husband’s plan to reunite with his estranged first wife, she claimed the deceased suddenly disappeared and was later found dead, when she visited the family house to honour her mother-in-law’s invitation.
“I went into my mother-in-law’s room to pray around 7pm on that day, and then left to our neighbour’s house. When I came back around 9pm, they said I took the girl away and I said I didn’t. I even joined them in search for the girl till about 2am, before I went back to my parent’s house to sleep. The next morning, they said they had found her corpse and accused me of killing her.”
Asked if she indeed, committed the crime, she queried in Pidgin English:”my husband say na me kill the girl, so, wetin una want me to talk again?”
Source:The Sun
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