What started out like youthful exuberance on the 14th January 2023 at about 12:30 pm at Gurara Local Government Council secretariat got more serious and heralded the gruesome murder of the Village Head of Lambata Alhaji Mohammed Abdulsafur Lambata.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the mob action was allegedly sponsored, following unresolved issues that have lingered over the years since the deceased ascended the throne of his forebears.
It was also gathered the late Village Head ascension did not go down well with some powers that be in the community.
LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that to resolve some of the pending issues, a meeting was arranged to put an end to the imbroglio, sadly the youths during the peaceful talk launched a violent attack on the deceased which was curtailed.
However, it was learnt that after the meeting, the police invited the deceased to write a statement on the attack which he did before retiring home but was later attacked on Saturday night at his residence leading to his death.
And eyewitness Sani Abubakar said shortly after returning home, another violent attack eschewed, he said the mob launched another attack with dangerous weapons of all sorts.
Abubakar said the Village Head’s family members sustained various degrees of injuries and his death. He explained that the youths divided themselves into two groups.
He said some entered the Village Head compound through the back door while they tried to stop those trying to gain entrance via the front door from attacking him.
“Unfortunately while we were trying to do that some of them gained entrance through the back and attacked the late Village Head with stones after efforts to use weapons failed.
A palace source while recalling the sad events said that he earlier attended a meeting of Village Heads at the local government council secretariat Gawu Babangida before his gruesome murder.
“The family alleged that the late village head while at the meeting was attacked by boys loyal to the council chairman. At the meeting some boys loyal to the council chairman and the self-installed Village Head Iliyasu Umar stormed the venue and forcefully removed the Village Head Mohammed Abdulsafur from the venue, assaulted him but luckily he was rescued by some elders, and taken to the office of the Divisional Police Officer DPO Gawu Babangida SP Yusuf Bisalla who then asked the village head to write a statement about the incident,” he said.
Recalling what happened thereafter Zakeri Lambata, one of the sons of the deceased said after writing the statement, the DPO asked the late Village Head to go home without any escorts or security cover from the police and told him that the police will invite the culprit in a later date for questioning.
“The action by the DPO did not go down well with our father as he told me a few hours before he was killed but he decided to leave since it was obvious that the DPO was not willing to take immediate action on the matter,” he said.
He said on reaching their house which is about 800 meters away from the Divisional Police Headquarters “the mob in their numbers stormed his residents wielding cutlasses, sticks, and other dangerous weapons.
“They forced themselves into the village head compound through the back door and attacked him and any member of his family on sight.”
Zakeri told LEADERSHIP Weekend that the hoodlums injured his younger brother Ibrahim Mohammed who almost lost his eye and his wife with a fractured foot.
He said his son Adamu Mohammed was wounded in his face and Hassan Ibrahim was left with a fracture in his hand.
He said the account was aside from those that sustained minor injuries.
He said, “However, before his demise, he made several efforts to reach the DPO for rescue, but the DPO did not pick up his call, at that point, he called one of his sons Zakari to help him reach out for help,” he said.
“Zakeri who is a journalist, quickly called the Police public relations officer Wasiu Abiodun for intervention but instead he asked him to call the DPO”.
Adamu said, “Until the ever-determined hoodlums kill him, there was no response by the police and other security operatives for over 30 minutes.
“It is sad that he was killed in broad daylight in the heart of Lambata, under the watchful eyes of other members of the public who were scampering for safety.”
He stated further that “the mob, after killing the Village Head, proceeded to the house of his injured younger brother Ibrahim Mohammed where they destroyed and burnt down his car and vandalized his house.”
The family in a petition to the Inspector General of police lamented the gory murder of the Village Head.
The petition reads in part, “It is also a known fact in the area, that the attackers are political thugs of the council chairman Yusuf Wali and on many instances, the council chairman had publicly declared that he would not recognize Mohammed Abdulsafur as the Village Head of Lambata and he will only recognize the self-installed village head Iliyasu Umar Sarki, even when he knew he is not the one recognized by the Emirate of Zazzau Suleja and the State government.
“This he has proven with his directive that the salary of the Village Head be withheld without any reason until his death.”
In the petition, the family also claimed that since the incident on Saturday afternoon, some of the perpetrators were seen moving around freely without any action taken against them.
More so, LEADERSHIP Weekend gathered that the withheld salary of the Village Head was immediately paid three days after his demise.
The chairman of Gurara local government Alhaji Wali while reacting to the allegations told LEADERSHIP Weekend that he has no hands in the crisis that led to the death of the Village Head.
He confirmed that “there was a meeting of the village heads at the secretariat of Gurara Local Government Council.”
He said when he attended briefly he asked whether there was a provision for entertainment and they said no.
“I made provision for entertainment and left immediately,” he said.
The chairman said he has shown empathy for the death by trying to attend the burial of the deceased traditional ruler but was chased away.
The circumstances leading to the death of the Village head have remained a topic of discussion in the community with many of the residents of the ever-busy Lambata engulfed in grief over the death of their Village Head.
The State governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello has, however, declared a curfew in the community.
A statement issued by the secretary to the state government (SSG), Ahmed Ibrahim Matane further explained that “in view of the unfortunate incident, the State Governor has directed that curfew be imposed in Lambata Town from 6:00 pm to 6:00 am beginning from Sunday 15th January, 2023 till further notice”.
Ahmed Matane disclosed that the imposition of the curfew in Lambata was to assist the security agencies to stabilize the security situation in the area and restore law and order.
The SSG said, “Government has condemned in strong terms the violence and act of lawlessness that has occurred in Lambata town.”
The State Government, however, called on the residents of the area to cooperate with the security agents in the urgent task of restoring peace in Lambata, while urging security agencies to ensure the enforcement of the curfew.
