Oblivious of the fact that a supposedly wise counsel by a senior police officer would turn out to be a highway to her untimely grave, Deborah packed out of her matrimonial home and bided her hubby goodbye following recurring domestic squabbles. In doing so, she had hoped to move on to a new phase of her life, where she would enjoy peace and have joy.
Having succeeded in separating her from the husband, an Assistant Superintendent of Police [ASP], (name witheld), allegedly made love advances to her. She agreed but said marriage was not on the cards since the ASP is happily married and has kids. Thus, a sizzling romance started between the duo, but it did not take long before tragedy struck. And the horrendous details of the incident sounded like a fictional narrative.
Precisely at 9.pm on March 17, 2010, Deborah was dispatched to the world beyond and her lifeless body dumped at the morgue of the Wuse General Hospital in Abuja. She had become another victim of cruel fate, shot dead in cold blood by the ASP the man she had invested hope, love and trust, when her marriage became a voyage of misadventure. Sadly, he shot her right in front of the police station where he held sway, after accusing her of having an affair with another man.
Eyewitnesses said when the reality of his action eventually dawned on him as Deborah laid in a pool of her blood, the police officer mobilized some of his subordinates and made a last ditch effort to save her life. She was first rushed to Royal Lot Clinic, a private medical facility located at Dutse Makaranta, where she was rejected on grounds that she had bullet wounds. Again, efforts to get her admitted in another hospital at Kubwa also drew blank as the authorities were said to have rejected her for similar reasons.
When both attempts yielded no positive result, the ASP, according to sources, decided to move her to the closest government hospital at the city centre. Unfortunately, she reportedly died on the way before help could reach her. Consequently, her body was taken to the Wuse General Hospital and deposited in the morgue. However, what transpired between the police and mortuary attendants at the hospital before the body was accepted has become a subject of controversy.
Deborah’s family and kinsmen alleged that the ASP and his subordinates who took her body to the hospital merely dumped her there after labeling her as a member of a robbery gang who was shot dead when the police raided their hide-out while her accomplices escaped.
Dismissing the claim as a blatant lie, her kith and kin resident in Abuja , threatened fire and brimstone. They vowed to ensure that justice prevailed. Daily Sun gathered that but for the timely intervention of Chief Stephen Utim, traditional head of the Tiv community in Dutse Makaranta, and the prompt deployment of anti-riot policemen to the area, angry Tiv youths had already mobilized to set ablaze the police station where the incident occurred.
Utim gave an insight on how the ASP lured Deborah out of her matrimonial home and engaged her in a love affair that eventually consumed her life: “Deborah was living with her husband, a Yoruba man. Whenever they had quarrel, ASP Ibrahim, as O/C of the police station would say he wanted to settle them. That was how he got close to her.
“After making the lady to separate from her husband, he promised helping her, and started going out with her. He gave her a mattress to use in her new rented apartment, but later collected it when they had a misunderstanding.
“On the day of the incident, he called her and said somebody was going out with her, and that he would deal with her. He had sighted her sitting with some people where they were drinking. He then sent his subordinates to invite her to the police station. She went there and after some altercation, left for her home.
“Not satisfied, he sent for her again and called her asewo [prostitute]. The lady replied that if she is a prostitute, then he is also a prostitute since he is married and having fun outside. Enraged, he threatened to shoot her and she asked him to go ahead if he could. And just in a flash, the ASP pulled the trigger, shooting her twice at the ribs.”
Utim, who described the ASP as his personal friend, said he was surprised that the embattled police officer could turn round to label the deceased as belonging to a gang of armed robbers after her death. He said indeed, documentary evidence indicated that he had referred to her as his wife.
Utim alleged that neither he nor any member of the Tiv community in Dutse Makaranta was informed when the incident occurred. They were kept in the dark till about 5.pm of the next day: “Nobody informed us of what had happened until the evening of the next day when I got wind of it. In fact, the ASP sent for me. By then, he had been detained at the Divisional Police Headquarters at Dutse Alhaji.
When I got there on Friday, March 19, 2010, he was crying. He told me it was the handiwork of the devil. I pitied him, because here is a man who has put in 33 years in service. He has only two years to go on retirement. Look at the mess he has put himself.”
If available documentary evidence is anything to go by, then, there are strong indications that the tag of being a suspected armed robber allegedly placed on Deborah as a ploy to cover up the dastardly act may boomerang soon. A letter hand-written and signed by the ASP dated February 19, 2010, and addressed to the Directorate of Road Traffic Services [VIO], portrayed the police officer’s intimacy with Deborah.
The ASP wrote the letter to solicit for the release of the deceased’s motor-bike used for commercial purposes which was seized by officials of the VIO at Dutse, along the Kubwa Expressway. While pleading for cooperation of the VIO, the police officer referred to Deborah as his wife. He said he had wanted to personally visit the officials in their office, but was hindered by the fact that his superior officer was at his station.
Spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] Police Command, Mr. Jimoh Moshood, confirmed the incident in a telephone chat: “Yes, I can confirm that the incident happened and the officer involved is under our custody. In fact, he was in handcuffs yesterday [Monday].
“However, what happened was a case of accidental discharge, but that is not to mean that the officer is exonerated. We will investigate if there was any other motive and if he is found culpable, he will be charged to court on completion of our departmental procedures.
“Right now, we are trying to locate the family of the deceased. At no time was the lady tagged a robbery suspect by the police. Nobody ever said so.” For Mr. Robert Kaase Alumo, father of the deceased, life has literally come to an end. Still in shock, Alumo had lost his voice when Daily Sun met him at the residence of Utim at Dutse Makaranta, three days after his arrival from his Katsina-Ala base in Benue State. Until her death, Deborah reportedly worked as a manager of Ade Guest Inn, Dutse. Bemused and confused, all the he could say about her was that she was “humble and hardworking.”
| Posted: at | |
TRENDING GISTS 
Mercy Chinwo’s Ex-Manager, EeZeeTee Granted ₦20m Bail Over Alleged $397,106 Forex Fraud
PHOTOS: Young Woman Brutally Murdered By Suspected Ritualists, Priv@te Part Removed In Ogun
Lovely Video Of Singer Davido And His Wife, Chioma Vibing To His Song
Woman Slams Her Husband For Allegedly Having Unprotected S3x With Random Girls After Publicly Apologizing To Her
Actress, Laide Bakare Crowned UN Ambassador Of Peace
Actress, Uche Montana Celebrates Birthday With New Stunning Photos
VIDEO: President Tinubu Conferred With a Chieftaincy Title in Anambra State