As a popular saying goes, the smallest coffins are the heaviest to carry. The death of a child is one of the most difficult to bear and there is hardly any parent who would wish that the offspring they brought forth dies before them.
It is understandable, therefore, that Hauwau Malami, the mother of the dental student of Sultan Abdurrahman College of Health and Technology, Gwadabawa, Sokoto State, Suleiman Malami, who was allegedly killed by his fellow students last Sunday, has been inconsolable.
Five students of the college and their friends allegedly conspired to kill Malami for allegedly stealing a mobile phone.
Malami was allegedly killed by his friends Sunday morning after they unsuccessfully tried to make him return a phone they claimed he stole.
The suspected students include Abubakar Tukur (Dental), Ashiru Sanusi (Dental), Bashar Gada (Health Information Technology), Yakubu Awwal (Pharmacy) and Ibrahim Hussaini (Medical Laboratory). Mubarak Lawal and Ahmad Abdul who are not students of the college were alleged to have taken part in the lynching of the deceased.
The deceased’s mother, who said she has been having sleepless nights over the gruesome murder of her child, told 21st CENTURY CHRONICLE in an exclusive interview at their Kalambaina family house in Wamakko local government area of the state, said, “what is more worrisome is the involvement of his closest friends, Daddy and Hussaini Ibrahim in the heinous act.”
“These are his closest friends. He trusted them so much. In fact, he hardly spent an hour without calling one of them, especially when they were on break.
“Two days before his resumption, Daddy called and asked him what he was still doing at home when their examination timetable was out and students in some departments had even started writing their exams.
“My son became worried and started moving to a helter-skelter, meeting his brother to raise money so that he can return to school. They lost their father about two years ago and it is his elder brothers that were taking care of him and seeing him through school,” she said.
Narrating the events leading to his death as she was told, Hauwa’u said, “Just one week after his resumption, precisely last Saturday, around 2am, some students, including his two closest friends went to his room while he was sleeping, poured cold water on him and dragged him out over alleged phone theft.
“They tied him to an electric pole and beat him to death.”
Continuing, she said, “While they were torturing him, he was calling the names of his friends, and asking them in Hausa “Kuna kallo zasu kashe ni?” meaning are you just watching them kill me?
“This is something that always rings in my head. I don’t think I can forgive them because they took away the joy of my life.”
“Even though he was not my first or last child, he was so dear to my heart. He was my closest child, my confidant. In fact, he was the type of child that every mother would be proud of,” the mother said in an emotion laden voice.
Hauwa’u, however, believes her child was killed out of envy due to his excellent academic performance.
“He had been successfully passing his exams since he got admitted into the school two years ago and was so popular among the students because he was the type that could make you forget your sorrows in a second, being very jovial,” she noted
She said that her son had been complaining about the attitude of some of his housemates and was even planning to get another accommodation before the sad turn of events.
She prayed to Allah to forgive his shortcomings and grant him the highest place in Paradise.
Responding to insinuations that the family had accepted their fate and forgiven the perpetrators, Hauwa’u said there was no such thing as the family was keen on seeing justice take its course in the matter.
“They must also pay ‘diyya’ (blood money) to us,” she demanded.
Also speaking, the eldest son in the family, Sanusi Malami Kalambaina, said the killers had initially claimed that their brother was killed by unknown men and dumped by the roadside.
“They said one Okada man came to their rented house and told them that he saw the body of a student lying by the road side with his hands tied. They then rushed to where he was lying, brought him inside the house, washed his body, changed his clothes and took him to the hospital.”
Kalambaina said the killers had reported to him that when they took the deceased to the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, the hospital management refused to touch his body, insisting on inviting the police first.
“When the police came, the three students told them the same story and one of the policemen asked them if they informed the school authority or any nearby police station before bringing him to the hospital, to which they said no. When they continued pressing them, one of them ran away and the police arrested the remaining two.
“However, another student reported to the management of the school what exactly led to the death of my brother. He told the management that some students connived with their friends who came from the city and killed him over an allegation of phone theft.
“The school authority then reported the matter to the Gwadabawa Divisional Police headquarters who swung into action and arrested some of the perpetrators and during interrogation they confessed to the crime.”
According to the deceased’s brother, one of the suspects confessed that the murder was pre-planned as he was the one who brought the sticks that were used in beating him around 6pm and another student also confessed to have being the one who brought the rope with which they tied him to the pole.
“So it is not about phone theft, it is something which they planned for a long time. There were about 13 in the room. Why would they single him out for the allegation,” he said.
The provost of the college, Nasir A. Musa, initially said he was not aware of the development until the management of UDUTH informed him on Sunday morning as both the victim and his killers were living off-campus.
“So, I called one of our staff who went to the hospital. I equally informed the Divisional Police Officer of Gwadabawa who led his men to the scene of the incident and arrested some of the perpetrators.”
He confirmed that seven students linked to the crime had been arrested while the police were on the trail of the others, including their friends that came from the city who also took part in the torture.
“We have already dismissed some of the students involved to serve as a deterrent to others because if we allow them to go scot free, other students can do a similar thing in the future,” the provost said.
The spokesperson of the Sokoto state Police Command, DSP Sanusi Abubakar, while confirming the development, said five of the eight suspects were arrested and would be charged to court next week.
