‘How jealous rival crushed my boyfriend, pal to death’

What would perhaps have been an idle joke between teenagers to kill for love turned out to be a nasty reality as Mohammed Inuwa carried out the gruesome deed. Martha narrated her ordeal to Weekly Trust disclosing that following an argument between late Umar and Mohammed, the rest of the bizarre event unfolded. She explained […]

What would perhaps have been an idle joke between teenagers to kill for love turned out to be a nasty reality as Mohammed Inuwa carried out the gruesome deed. Martha narrated her ordeal to Weekly Trust disclosing that following an argument between late Umar and Mohammed, the rest of the bizarre event unfolded. She explained that the alleged murderer met her at a beer parlour a couple of weeks back where they started off as mere acquaintances. “I only met Mohammed a couple of weeks ago and all I know of him is that he had all the while tried to date me but a few days ago, he killed my boyfriend, Umar and Sunday with his car”, she wailed.

 She said that despite entreaties to woo her, she declined on the condition that she had a relationship, an effort which she maintained yielded no result as Mohammed insisted on dating her. The fateful night the duo was crushed to death, Martha revealed that she and Mohammed were at a deadlock over the issue of asking her to come over to his place to spend the night. She intimated that it was while they were arguing that Umar and Sunday rode up to her on a motorcycle to warn the interloping Mohammed to steer clear.

She said that despite the fact that she pleaded with Mohammed to shelve the idea of pursuing the two, her pleas fell on deaf ears as he did not give her the chance to convince him as he sped off after his would-be victims. She also disclosed that she screamed the top of her voice to get the attention of her lover and Sunday to warn them of the impending disaster, but stated that even if they heard her, Mohammed had manoeuvred so quickly that they couldn’t have escaped.

She identified an ash colour Mercedes Benz C200, with registration number, Niger AE 776 PAK, as the car used to crush the two to death on that fateful day at about five minutes to midnight.

Describing how the duo met their untimely death, Martha said, “After a brief argument between Umar and Sunday, Umar decided to go and drop his friend Sunday, before Mohammed closed in on the victims, and ran over them with the car. After the first attempt, he reversed and crushed them once again”, she explained.

While maintaining that she had nothing to do with Mohammed, Martha told this reporter that she and the embattled man were at the popular Tennis Club in Minna to relax on that fateful night. She intimated that it was while they were taking her home that Umar, her main boyfriend, showed up to wrest her from Mohammed, adding  that Mohammed got angry as she was succumbing to Umar’s instruction for her to leave him.

According to Malam Sanusi Ibrahim who witnessed the incident, he told Weekly Trust that within a flash, a motorcycle was rammed by a speeding car. He recalled that what initially seemed like an accident quickly dawned on them to be premeditated as the same vehicle reversed and crushed the victims who were initially writhing in pain from the first impact.

“After making sure they were dead, he sped off screaming obscenities. None of us was with any form of mobility to give him a chase, so he ended up disappearing into the night without a trace”, he explained. Martha, who apparently was yet to recover from the horrendous experience, was said to be uncooperative at the beginning of investigations as the police had earlier tagged her as unsupportive in unravelling the identity of the killer.

  The police in Minna, Niger State capital, last Wednesday arrested the jealous lover boy, Mohammed Inuwa, who is said to be a son of a prominent politician in the state. It however took the professional tactics of the command and the cooperation of good-spirited witnesses to unravel the man behind the killing to bring Mohammed to answer for his alleged crimes, the police intimated.

 Parading the suspect in his office, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mike Zuokumor said that “After the initial arrest of two suspects, my men zeroed down on Mohammed following the efforts of good Nigerians who helped to track down the suspect”.

The state police boss further said that investigations were still in progress as the suspect will soon be arraigned in court to answer for his crime. The suspect, Mohammed, however, put up a show when he was being paraded as he wept profusely denying any involvement in the killing of the two persons as he called for detailed investigations into the matter. “Mr. Commissioner, kindly investigate this matter. I am not a killer. Please, don’t ruin my life. I am studying in England. How can I kill somebody and run? My damaged car was as a result of the recent students’ unrest at the College of Education. They promised to compensate me, which was why I took the photograph of the car. Go and ask them”, the suspect wailed.

The jealous lover who is due to return to England later this month is cooling his heels at the Niger State Police headquarters pending the completion of investigations and trial of the case.