By Nimake Earland
It was a gory tale of man’s inhumanity to a man last Saturday in a sleepy Bauchi community, as a helpless 17-year-old student of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Rukayya Abubakar, watched as her father was murdered in cold blood.

The sad incident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday at the Birshin Fulani community on the outskirts of Bauchi metropolis, has left the family devastated as the deceased, Abubakar Mohammed Garba, was the sole breadwinner for his family of two wives and 17 children with Rukayya being the eldest.

The deceased, who was a senior staff member of The Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, according to neighbours, family and well-wishers, was a person who took care of everybody and did not deserve to die in such a gruesome manner he was killed by the unknown gunmen who invaded his house and shot him in the neck.

Narrating the unfortunate attack, Rukayya told THIS NIGERIA that she was in her room when the attackers invaded the house, adding that she heard her father calling her uncle.

“I was in my room sleeping when I heard my father calling my uncle, Mubarak. I got up and peeped through the window, he kept calling. Then I came out and asked him what is happening and he replied that it was intruders. I asked him if they have guns and he kept quiet. I asked again if they were in a car and he said yes.

“He kept calling my uncle but when he didn’t come out he rushed into the parlour and called Baba Ado. When he came out, I saw him carrying a torch and I told him the torch is not bright, I told him to collect mine because it was brighter. He collected the torch and told me to get him something he can use as a weapon, I brought him a pestle and a ladle and he collected the pestle,” the ATBU student narrated.

She informed that she and her mother joined her father and uncle outside but was asked to go back into the house, which she did not listen to, adding that she saw as the attackers, who were in their vehicle shot her father and beat him as well until he died.

“I told him to remove his shirt because it is white and he would be recognised easily. He said no he would go like that but then he came back and removed everything in his pocket. I told him to fold his cloth so he could run easily if they attack him and he said would go like that.

“When uncle Mubarak eventually came out, I told my father not to go since he said they were in a car and he said he would go. They went out and I followed them behind but he said I should go back. I stood watching them, my mother too came out. I was standing and watching when I heard them shoot him and started beating him and my uncle.

“He was shouting, I was also shouting. They didn’t stop beating him until he gave up the ghost. I didn’t stop shouting and I was led back into the house. We just entered when uncle Mubarak came running inside. I asked him if my father and he said he was okay.

“I told him they have killed my father and he said they had not killed him, that it was just an empty gun. I told him I saw the flash of the bullet and they had killed my father. I told my sister to run as they were approaching our house. I told them they had killed my father. I saw my uncle Salisu and asked him, he didn’t tell me anything but just sat on the floor and was shedding tears and then he went out.”

According to her, “I saw some people coming into our house and I told them to help my father and that he had been killed. I was watching when police arrived and carried him.”

Rukayya described her father as very caring and very fond of his children, adding that the late Garba valued education so much that he kept encouraging the children to take their education serious and study hard

“My father is very close to us his children; I am the eldest. He would always encourage us to study hard. I am in 100 level at ATBU studying Biology Education,” she said.

While speaking with THIS NIGERIA, Mubarak, who Rukayya said her father called, declared that his brother died at a time he was needed most.

According to the brother of the deceased, who was injured in the neck by the gunmen, “Abubakar died when he was needed the most. He was a hardworking man and loved education. He was ever ready to assist you whether he knew you or not.

The late Garba’s second wife, Mariya Abubakar, while accepting the death of her husband as an act of God, declared that it was his time to die though he went out of his house to assist and was killed in the process.

“I was sleeping when I heard a shout. I enquired and was told that thieves were in the area. That was around 1:30 a.m. I came out and I heard a gunshot, then I heard our daughter shouting and I said what was that and she said her father had been killed. I asked her who told her and she said it was her daddy, he had been killed
“We now came back into the house, switched off all torchlight. My husband had no problem with anyone. It was destined to happen. He went out to assist and he was killed; I believe it was his time and nothing else,” the bereaved wife said.

The community head, the Abdullahi baban Ladi, told THIS NIGERIA that the late Garba was a kind-hearted man who liked to always help the community. He disclosed that the deceased never segregated when distributing foodstuffs to the people and declared that the community had lost a pillar.

“He was a man who was very composed and liked helping his community. We have lost a pillar. He is very kind-hearted and very few people are like him. He didn’t segregate when helping either with foodstuffs or admissions of our children.

“One of my children tuition fees was completed by him, about N13,000. I didn’t know until his death. We are hoping and praying that someone in his family takes after him because he was a good man. We are worried, I want to call on the government to do something. He has 16 children and no one to support them. The government should assist. Why the death is very painful is because the children are still young,” he said.

A neighbour of the late Garba, Ahmed Gidado Sule, explained that the deceased on the sad early morning called on him (Sule) to come out so that they could both assist their neighbours being attacked.

“He woke me up in the night and prevailed on me for us to assist our neighbours who were being attacked around 2 am. I told him I am coming. When I came out, I didn’t see him so I thought he had left. I followed the back through a cornfield.

“At the end of the field, I saw someone squatting, when he saw me, he grabbed me and hit me with a sharp object on my neck. As I felt the pain, I grabbed his hands and we started to struggle and I threw him on the ground. I overpowered him he told me to run.

“I didn’t wait since he was on the ground. I turned and ran inside the cornfield. I ran without looking back until I reached The Federal Polytechnic. I met the police stationed there and told them what happened and they escorted me back to the community,” Sule narrated.

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Sympathisers who thronged the deceased house on Sunday told THIS NIGERIA that the late Garba was a kindhearted man, who cared not only for his family but also his neighbours and community members.

According to them, two weeks prior to his death, the deceased, who was until his death, a Chief Engineer with The Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, shared foodstuffs for people in Birshin Fulani community on the Bauchi-Dass road.

They declared that they would sorely miss the benevolence of the deceased, his friendliness and as well his caring attitude to all.