Teenager commits suicide after being barred from lover

However, love has a way of causing a metamorphosis on an individual. In those intoxicating moments, it holds its victim captive and leads them where it pleases. And it has led Maimunatu into her early grave on Wednesday September 9.   She was said to have jumped into a well full of water and never […]

However, love has a way of causing a metamorphosis on an individual. In those intoxicating moments, it holds its victim captive and leads them where it pleases. And it has led Maimunatu into her early grave on Wednesday September 9.  

She was said to have jumped into a well full of water and never came out alive.

Maimunatu’s demise was not as a result of a love affair turned sour as many were wont to believe but a result of frustration occasioned by her parent’s refusal to marry a man of her choice. The deceased was said to have been in a relationship with the man she loves and hoped to get married to.

The love affairs between Maimunatu and Yusuf Musa, a resident of Kilema in Lafia was said to have started sometimes last year. The relationship blossomed with the couple planning to tie the nuptial knot until the father of the deceased Muhammadu Ciroma, got wind of the affair.

The father was said to have been angry when he learnt that his daughter’s suitor was the husband of his late younger sister, Uwar Kande. The marriage between Musa and Kande which produced a daughter was said to have been frosty while it lasted.  According to Ciroma, Musa is a symbol of irresponsibility and that no reasonable father would trust him with his daughter. “It was his irresponsibility that cost the live of my late sister. He barely fed her; he maltreated and beat her at the slightest provocation. My sister became disillusioned and frustrated and later died,” he told Weekly Trust last week.

 So, when he learnt that it was his former in-law whom his daughter was in love with, he vowed to do everything within his power to scuttle the affair. He was said to have first confronted the lover boy to stay clear of his daughter. Musa was said to have promised to call off the relationship. He said one day the girl left the house and never returned. “We searched everywhere for her to no avail; I had no option but to call in the vigilante on the third day of her disappearance.” He said the vigilante found the girl in Musa’s house and brought her home. He said he had to report the matter to the Emir of Lafia, who in turn, referred it to the Sarkin Fada, Malam Mohammed Anas for adjudication.

He said Sarkin Fada had advised them to go home for settlement but that they could not arrive at an amicable resolution as the matter ended in chaos.

 Explaining further, Ciroma said after a while, the girl disappeared again and as usual, he had to call in the vigilante who discovered her at Musa’s residence and took her to Sarkin Fada’s house for the second time.  The Sarkin Fada was said to have called Ciroma and one Malam Isa, Musa’s uncle with a view to find a lasting solution to the problem. The traditional title holder was said to have specifically warned Musa’s uncle to persuade him to look for another girl to marry since Maimunatu’s father was not willing to bless the courtship. Musa’s uncle was said to have left the meeting in anger, threatening that if Ciroma did not want the marriage to be conducted in peace, it would be done otherwise.

 “The girl again later disappeared for 30 days and was later found by the vigilante group, who invited the father of the girl and Musa to sign an agreement that he (Musa) would no longer relate with the girl. The girl later disappeared from home again after a while and was brought to the house of her father’s friend for refuge when it became apparent that her father’s patient had run out. Her grand mother, Hussaina, had to intervene before she could be allowed back home.

However, this time, the parents had to take measures by chaining her to the bed post in one of the rooms. The chain was said to be long enough to allow her movement within the room and some meters within the compound vicinity.

On that fateful day however, the parents were said to have gone on a condolence visit to a nearby neighbour who lost a beloved one when she managed to free herself from the bed post and dived head long into the well within the compound and died. When those around got wind of the development, they mobilised and contacted the fire service in the state capital. Mr. Dogara Dalhat, the fire service officer who led the operation, told Weekly Trust that his men battled to save the deceased by promptly moblising to the scene but that she had died before she was brought out.

“About 8: 40 am, one Abubakar Dogara from the emir’s palace reported at our station that a lady had fallen into a well. We moblised to the scene where we secured one of the men to rescue her only to discover that she had already died,” he explained. The fire officer told Weekly Trust that the deceased had a chain on one of her legs and wondered why a father could have taken “such extreme measures just to prevent her from marrying a wrong person. “Our investigation revealed that with the chain on her legs she crawled outside and jumped into the well when nobody was around,” he said.

Sarkin Fada, Alhaji Anas Mohammed, said he never knew the situation would degenerate to the point where the deceased would commit suicide.

Also, the state’s acting chairman of the vigilante group, Malam Mohammed Agwai explained the role played by the body in the matter. “We made Ciroma, the father of the deceased and Musa to sign an undertaking after several attempts at an amicable settlement failed but it is unfortunate that the girl had to die this way,” he lamented.

The man at the centre of it all, Yusuf Musa described the death of Maimunatu as a “colossal loss”. I felt part of me ripped off and I know I will never be whole again; I will never be the same again. My God, I loved that girl and she loved me. Tell me if that is a crime; yes, to be loved,” he told Weekly Trust amidst tears last week. When confronted of the allegation of shabby treatment of his late wife, he said the story was a mere fabrication.

“I made sure she did not lack anything but she was never stable. She would disappear from home to unknown destinations without informing me for weeks and to appear again. The last time she disappeared she returned with an illness that eventually killed her. I don’t want to speak ill of the dead but how am I to be blamed for such behaviour;” he queried. He said his inlaw, Ciroma never liked him; “but that is not enough for one to take stringent measures that would eventually lead to the death of Maimunatu.”  Ciroma declined reference to the chain but said he had to do everything possible to protect his daughter from the likes of Musa masquerading as potential husbands.