‘Who killed our breadwinner?’

The question being asked by the family of a middle-aged man, Benjamin Sule, in Bauchi, Bauchi State is: who killed our breadwinner? This is because of the mystery that still surrounds the circumstances of the death of the 41-year-old who left his house immediately after he received a phone call from a yet to be identified person. The caller was said to have invited Sule to the Gwallemeji area for an unknown reason.

The state police command is investigating the incident.

As of now, the family is asking questions concerning how exactly their breadwinner, a former staff of a telecoms firm in Bauchi, ended up dead after disappearing for two days.

The incident, which began with the deceased’s disappearance on 1 July, 2018, has thrown residents of Rafin Makaranta, a suburb of the Bauchi metropolis where Sule lived, into mourning. The police are yet to make any arrest. Sule, a native of Apa Local Government Area of Benue State, was found dead at a hill called Dokka, near the Gwallameji area of Bauchi two days after his disappearance. One of the questions begging for answers is: who is responsible for his death?

A strange call from strange persons

During a visit to the residence of the deceased located at RafinMakaranta, opposite the Nigerian Army School of Armour in Bauchi, neighbours, friends of the deceased and other sympathisers were seen trooping in to condole with the family. It was gathered from a neighbour who pleaded for anonymity that the late Sule had received a strange call from some persons whom he was familiar with. The source said that on the fateful Sunday evening, he received a call from some persons who told him to come to Gwallameji.

“On that Sunday evening, he told my elder sister that some persons called him at Gwallameji; that he was going to see them. He even collected her battery and put it inside his phone because he had low battery. He told her that he did not want the people to think that he switched off his phone and that was why he borrowed my sister’s battery

“We waited for him on Sunday evening but he did not show up. When he did not return on Monday, too, we decided to make a report at the police station in Fadaman Mada, but the police told us that they had no information about any missing person. It was on Wednesday that we got information from his elder brother that his corpse had been found by policemen attached to Yelwa Police Division, at Dokka hill, near the Gwallameji area of Bauchi,” the source said.

Family demand justice

Sule’s family are asking for justice, saying that they are not convinced that their brother died of natural causes; they believe it is a case of murder.

One of his junior brothers, Jacob Sule, who lives in Abuja, said the death of his brother shocked him. He said there was something fishy about the death of his brother.

“I don’t believe that my brother died of natural causes. Last month, I was told by one of his neighbours that he had a quarrel with one of his close friends. I don’t know what caused a problem between the two of them. I even called my brother to warn him to stay away from people of questionable characters,” Jacob said.

“I know Benjamin was murdered and God will bring justice upon whosoever is responsible for this atrocity. When I saw him last week, he was hale and hearty. He could not have died like that; he was killed, Mr Friday Sule, an elder brother of the deceased, lamented.

Neighbours, friends anguished

Some of Benjamin Sule’s neighbours who are yet to come to terms with the reality of Sule’s death said some swearwords; they wanted harm to come to whoever might be responsible for killing their loved one.

“There is no peace for the wicked, says The Bible. Whoever is responsible for Benjamin’s death will not escape the wrath of God because he was a peace-loving man who got along with everyone. I don’t know why this world is so wicked and people continually do evil to their fellow human beings,” one of the neighbours, who could not hold back tears, said.

They called on the police to intensify their investigations and bring the perpetrators to justice, saying that Benjamin’s killers must be found and punished.

A letter from the departed

Investigations revealed that the late Sule had had issues at his place of work which eventually led to his sacking. In a letter he once wrote, Sule explained his ordeal at work and the attendant events. Did the problem he had at work have anything to do with his death? The family believes police investigation will reveal that.

Police probe

When Saturday Tribune contacted the Bauchi State police command over the incident, the Public Relations Officer, Kamal Datti Abubakar, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said on the 4th of July, 2018, policemen attached to the Yelwa Division received information from some members of the public about the body of an adult man lying on top of a hill.

“Upon the receipt of this information, a police team rushed to the scene and evacuated the body to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital for an autopsy, to ascertain the cause of his death. No mark of violence was seen on his body,” the police spokesman said.

He said the case was being investigated and further developments would be communicated to the press in due course.