Photo: Victim’s lifeless body on the floor
The police command in Katsina State has arrested a 24-year-old 300 Level student of the Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State, Najeeb Shehu, who allegedly clubbed his stepmother to death with a pestle.
Najeeb was said to have also broken the leg and arm of his father, Shehu Balele with the pestle, for trying to stop him.
While the suspect’s stepmother died instantly, his father, a Zonal Inspector with the Katsina State Ministry of Education, was said to be receiving medical attention at the Orthopaedic Unit of the Katsina Teaching Hospital,.
A police source ,who is familiar with the incident but who is not authorized to speak on the incident, said that neighbours who sighted the suspect trying to flee after carrying out the dastardly ,act alerted the police who immediately combed the area and arrested him.
The police source said that the suspect has been taken to the GRA Police Station, where further investigation on the incident is ongoing prior to taking him to court for prosecution.
An eyewitness and elder brother to the suspect, Mustapha Shehu,who also lives in the family compound with his wife and children, while narrating what transpired,explained that his brother, Najeeb, attacked their stepmother in her sitting room when her only child came visiting the family house.
Mustapha said, “Najeeb entered our stepmother’s sitting room holding a pestle and locked the entrance door. He reminded her of his promise to kill her. Then he smashed her on the head with the pestle twice and she collapsed.
“My sister, who was with our stepmother in the sitting room, rushed and held him. They started struggling and she was able to push him down. Then, she ran and unlocked the entrance door and ran out.
“While calling for help, he got up and ran after her but for the quick intervention of our father who ran out from his room, he could not get to her.
“However, he clubbed our father with the pestle, breaking his leg for trying to stop him.
“Noticing that our sister had escaped from the compound, Najeeb returned to the sitting room and when he noticed that our stepmother was still alive, he resumed pounding her with the pestle, until he ensured that she was lifeless, disfiguring her face in the process.
“When he saw that my wife too was still in the compound, he started chasing her but God so kind, she was able to escape to our neighbour’s house along with other women. They locked themselves inside one of the rooms in the compound.
“Najeeb followed them to the compound where they hid but fortunately for them, he could not open the door. So, he came to the front of the house, threatening that anyone that was bold enough should come out and face him.”
Mustapha further said that Najeeb, who is a chronic drug addict, had threatened to kill their stepmother on several occasions but their father forbade them from taking action on him because he wanted him to study.
He said that on such occasions, they had to report the threat to the police but no tangible action was taken against him.
Another family source who preferred not to be named, told Periscope International that Najeeb had on several occasions expressed his disdain for his 65-year-old stepmother, Hajiya Hasiya Galadima, a retired civil servant with the Katsina State Government.
Corroborating Mustapha’s narrative, she said that Najeeb had a history of drug abuse, and had on several occasions threatened to kill his stepmother, alleging that she was responsible for his father’s separation from his mother.
As of the time of filing this report, the police command in Katsina had yet to officially react to the incident as efforts to get their view on the tragedy proved abortive.
