A senior legislative aide in the Senate,
Mohammed Ibrahim Matazu has died in
Kaduna following burns he suffered when his
wife set him ablaze in Abuja.
Matazu, who was Senior Legislative Aide to
Senator Mohammed Sani Saleh of the Congress
for Progressive Change (CPC) from Kaduna
Central, was rushed to Kaduna after the incident
where he died at the Ahmadu Bello University
Teaching Hospital, Shika, near Zaria and was
buried in Kaduna on Thursday.
Senator Saleh told journalists in Kaduna on
Friday that the law must take its full course on
the matter which he described as a murder case.
He described Matazu as the pillar in his office
who contributed a lot to the development of the
CPC, in his legislative duties and the smooth
running of his office.
“This is a plain murder case and a case of
homicide like this is a case between the state and
the accused. His wife who committed this
heinous crime is in police detention now, and I
intend to follow through to ensure that justice is
done,” he said.
According to family sources, the angry wife who
they referred to as ‘mummy’ was not happy with
late Matazu who she alleged, spent more time in
Kaduna with his senior wife and mother of his
children.
Speaking to journalists, the deceased’s brother,
Mr0 Magaji Ibrahim, said late Matazu had told
him that he had always explained to ‘mummy’
that he visits Kaduna often to represent the
senator and to ensure that some of their
constituency projects were completed.
“The wife said she poured petrol on him because
he spent more days with the first wife in Kaduna.
But my brother was always in Kaduna because of
the assignment given to him by the senator. So he
used to spend 10 days before going back to Abuja
because he was going round the seven local
governments to supervise the boreholes the
senator was drilling in those areas,” he said.
According to him, ‘mummy’ was the second wife
and was yet to have a child. She was being
detained at a police station in Abuja. The first
wife has six children.
He said last Wednesday, Matazu had told him on
phone that he was coming to Kaduna from Abuja
to represent Senator Saleh at a meeting because
the senator would be travelling to Imo State for
another engagement.
However, a missed call rose his curiosity on
Thursday morning and when he called the
number, a voice that happened to be that of
Matazu’s neighbour told him about his brother’s
ordeal.
“He asked if I am Matazu’s brother and I said yes.
He said my brother had rushed out of his room
with fire all over his body, and was shouting that
the fire was killing him. So the neighbours
rushed and rescued him. But my brother’s wife
came out of the house, saying that where is
Matazu and by the time she caught up with him,
she now asked him, what can you do now?That
was at about 9:00am. on Thursday.”
He said when neighbours asked his brother what
happened, he told them that it was his wife that
poured petrol on his body and set him on fire.
“It was at this point that the neighbours grabbed
the wife and called the police to arrest her. They
all left for the police station with her. My brother
too followed them to the police station with
pains all over his body. It happened in Gwarinpa,
Abuja, the day he was preparing to go to Kaduna
for the meeting.
“ He was later rushed to Zone 3, Wuse hospital.
He was briefly treated there as his body was
bandaged. But according to the doctor’s report,
77 per cent of his body was severely burnt,
though he was still talking with people.”
He said when Senator Saleh came, he advised that
Matazu be taken to the National Hospital, Abuja,
but there was no space for admission there and
they took him to a hospital in Gwagwalada, only
to be told that they were on strike.
He said they finally got an ambulance and moved
him to the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna,
where the doctors advised that Matazu be taken
to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching
Hospital (ABUTH).
He said about seven doctors at Shika tried their
best and treated Matazu who was responding to
treatment and was hoping to survive. But he died
on Wednesday and was buried Thursday in
Kaduna according to Islamic rites.