ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi
The Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State, Umar Sanda, has explained that the recent incident that led to the death of a 67-year old retired civil servant, Adamu Babanta, was an accident and not murder as reported in a section of the media.
NATIONAL ACCORD had reported that the Police arrested a former Information Commissioner in Bauchi State, Engineer Mohammed Damina, for allegedly causing the death of his friend and neighbour when he was trying to woo his (friend’s) 18-year old daughter.
Damina, who also later served as Commissioner of Special Duties, during the second tenure of former Governor Isa Yuguda, holds a traditional title of “Galadiman Dass” in Dass Emirate Council of Bauchi State.
The incident which was said to have happened at Yelwan Lebra area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis, on Sunday, 30th of October at about 5.30 pm, when the deceased, Adamu Babanta, a 67-year-old retired civil servant resident in Yelwa Lebura area, caught his friend and neighbour, Damina, with his daughter called Khadija, on the same Sunday evening.
Khadija, a Senior Secondary School Student 2, had told journalists that: “Yesterday (Sunday), Galadima called me while I was in the shop and asked me to meet him around the Yelwan Tundu market. So, I informed my father, his friend about it and he asked me to go.
“I was in a Keke while my father took a bike, when we got there he asked me to enter his car. I said he should wait, but my father came out to confront him. They were dragging his car, he wanted to escape with me, then I came out of the vehicle. He drove roughly with my dad’s hands in his car, trying to turn off the engine.
“From there he hit him on a pole and he died. He zoomed off while the lifeless body of my father was lying on the road,” she said.
The incident caused a protest in the Yelwa area on Monday morning as youth in the area blocked the road causing a traffic gridlock as workers going to work could not pass through. It took the intervention of men of Nigeria Police, Army, Civil Defense and the traditional ruler in the area to control the situation.
Following the incident, there were some reports in a section of the media (not National Accord) that the incident was a murder and that he (the Commissioner of Police, Bauchi State), “helped the former Commissioner manipulate a murder case into road offense — so he could ‘cheat’ justice.”
But speaking at a press conference held in his office at the Command’s headquarters on Monday, CP Sanda, said that preliminary investigation into the incident by the Police indicated that it was an accident and not murder.
He noted that it became imperative to update members of the public on their investigative findings and position regarding the case following recent public narratives on the matter.
He denied the online report indicting him, saying the report the Police got was for a road accident rather than that of murder, adding that the former Commissioner was arrested and charged to court and has currently been remanded at a Correctional Facility.
“Our findings also established that the accused (Mohammed Damina) is a neighbor to the deceased (Adamu Babanta) who called the daughter on phone and arranged to meet her at a junction near Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) gate Yelwan Tudu market Bauchi.
“The father of Khadija who is now deceased met them at that point, though not together inside the suspect’s vehicle or in any sort of compromised position, rather she was standing with the motorcycle rider that brought her to the location.
“Then her father now deceased went straight to the occupant of the vehicle (Mohammed Damina) and both of them started exchanging heated words to a point where the father now deceased started shouting “barawo-barawo” (thief-thief) this was confirmed by an eyewitness, the daughter, her senior brother and the suspect. The repercussion of which is to attract mob action from bystanders and passers-by.
“In the process, the accused attempted to start his vehicle with the intention of zooming off and evading a public escalation of the situation including possible mob action, but the deceased suddenly opened the vehicle’s door from the driver’s side,” he said.
He added that: “Notwithstanding, the accused engaged his vehicle and accelerated while the father of Khadija, now deceased, was still clung to the car door, as a result, he was dragged to a certain distance, when he fell off thereby hitting his head on the pavement of the road with impact.
“The victim was rushed to ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi for treatment, but was unfortunately confirmed dead by a medical doctor. The accused (Mohammed Damina) was therefore arrested and detained for investigation immediately.
“I immediately ordered an Autopsy on the corpse to ascertain the cause of his death. The result was received on 8th November, 2022 from ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi which shows that the victim died of Traumatic Spinal cord injury and multiple skeletal/soft tissue Trauma.
“As we speak, the Court has remanded the accused at the Correctional facility and I directed that the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to discreetly investigate accordingly to unravel the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident.”
The Police Boss called on media practitioners not to relent in their firm commitments and dedication to ensure global best practice of ethical investigative journalism, aimed at seeking the truth and establishing national cohesion and patriotism to our great nation, Nigeria.
“Ordinarily, the command would have overlooked this issue, but it has become expedient to set the record, as some members of the public are being mislead by some section of the media, that the case was a outright murder. Finally, on behalf of the command, I commiserate with the family of the victim and assure that Justice will be served accordingly,” he said.
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