I want my daughter’s killers executed – Father of Minna slain bride

The incident, Daily Trust gathered, happened on Tuesday about six weeks after the deceased got married to the Niger State indigene.

Malam Ibrahim Yayaha Sidi Na Khalifa, father of the bride who was killed 50 days after her wedding, has demanded the execution of those who murdered his daughter.

Amina Aliyu, the co-wife of the deceased, has been accused of killing the new bride.

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In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust, Malam Na Khalifa said he would want justice to take its course by ensuring that the perpetrators of the heinous act are brought to book.

He said in Islam, there is nothing wrong when somebody who is wronged decides to seek justice, adding that the Holy Qur’an has clearly spelt out the punishment for someone who kills another without a just cause.

“I will never forgive the blood of my daughter. The Qur’an says ‘We had ordained for them a life for a life’…, so I want to see that judgement is passed on the perpetrators of this dreadful act.

“No! I will never forgive them. If it was an accident or unintentional manslaughter, that is a different issue. But you beat my daughter to death and as if that was not enough, you also set her body ablaze, that I will never forgive,” he said in tears.

Malam Na Khalifa said he received the news of the death of his daughter with mixed feelings of happiness and anguish, explaining that the happiness was borne out of the conviction that, “the Prophet Muhammad, who does not tell anything but the truth, had given glad tidings to anyone killed unjustly that they will abide in paradise.

“Based on those glad tidings, I have no iota of doubt that my daughter will be among the dwellers of the paradise and that makes me happy. But I am grieved and it is really agonising bearing in mind that I will see her no more in this world and I am pained thinking what she went through in the hands of her assailants,” he said.

The bereaved father described his daughter as a peaceful, and well behaved girl, who was different from her siblings in terms of good character.

He said though he was not financially fit to take the case up, he is happy to hear that the Emir of Minna has shown interest in the matter and some human rights groups have also indicated interest in pursuing the matter to its conclusion.

The Commissioner of Police in Niger State, Muhammed Adamu, who spoke to BBC Hausa Service, said there were strong indications that the co-wife was culpable of the homicide as it was confirmed that the deceased was hit on the head before she was set on fire.

He confirmed that the principal suspect and three other suspected accomplices are in police net and that investigation into the matter was ongoing.

Born in 2002, late Fati got married to Aliyu Abdullahi on January 29, 2021. She was killed on Tuesday and buried on Wednesday at Sabuwar Unguwa, in her hometown of Katsina on the request of her father.

When our reporter visited the family house after the funeral prayer, mourners were seen trooping in numbers to condole with the family, while extolling the virtues of the deceased.

The same woman, according to the husband, is suspected to have killed her two step daughters in 2018.

Aliyu Abdullahi Dayi, the husband, who spoke to our correspondent said though he has not recorded any case of violence against his first wife, the manner in which she killed the new wife suggested that she is responsible for the death of his two daughters who died in a fire incident in 2018.

While narrating what happened, Dabi said he was not around when the incident happened but someone called him around 3pm on Tuesday that there was fire outbreak in the house and he went to the house immediately but didn’t see any sign of fire incident outside but when he went in, he met the wife dead.

“From my observation, she was hit on different parts of her body. Unfortunately, when they tried to burn the house with her corpse, the house didn’t burn.

“When I discovered she was dead, we reported at the Tundun Wada police station. All accusing fingers were pointed at my wife as the prime suspect. In fact, my first wife killed her,” he said.

On why they suspected the first wife, Dabi further explained that the mystery behind the death of his two daughters, the first and second born, on November 28, 2018, made his first wife the prime suspect and believed that she killed those innocent girls.

According to him, “I married her on 30th May, 2015, and she hasn’t been violent before. I divorced my other wife in 2016 but lost 2 of my children,  Fatimah and Salamatu Aliyu, on 28th November, 2018, in a fire incident. And now that my new wife has died, I’m now suspecting her. What happened was purely a case of jealousy, and she didn’t reject the wife when I married her.”

He added that he has left the case with the police and he will allow the law to take its full course on the matter.