Source; Leadership
Katsina — The family of a top politician in Katsina State, Alhaji Tasi Elder, who died suddenly on Monday, have insisted that their breadwinner was poisoned inside the state police commissioner’s office.
The family also dismissed claims by the commissioner that Elder died at the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina.
The spokesperson of the family, Malam Musa Elder, alleged in an interview with newsmen in Mashi town yesterday that some top politicians from the area were behind his younger brother’s death.
He specifically fingered the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Shehu Shema, a member of the National Assembly from the area, Alhaji Salisu Majigiri, and the Mashi Local Government Council chairman, Alhaji Surajo Mashi, as the masterminds behind the death of the politician.
He added in tears, “They connived and succeeded in killing my brother. Before his unfortunate death I told him to be careful with these evil men”.
Elder alleged that his brother was poisoned and killed inside the commissioner of police’s office, debunking claims by the commissioner that he died at the medical centre.
According to him, the family would soon meet and take a stand over the matter, vowing that it could not be swept under the carpet.
In a related development, one Mustapha Kaura, who was invited by the police together with Tasi Elder, told newsmen that only the deceased was allowed into the commissioner’s office.
He added that after hanging around for hours at the police headquarters they saw the commissioner leaving his office with the excuse that he was attending an emergency meeting.
According to him, a few minutes after the commissioner had left, a police woman called them inside the commissioner’s office and ordered them to take the dead body of Tasi Elder.
“We met him inside the commissioner’s office with his gown torn apart, his trousers removed and water coming out of his mouth”, he alleged.
Kaura said on reaching the Federal Medical Centre a doctor, after medical check, told them that Elder had died some hours earlier.
The lawyer of the deceased, Mr. E.O.S. Ogbunadike, has called on the inspector-general of police to carry out a full investigation on the circumstances leading to the death of his client.
It could be recalled that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Dan’azumi Job Doma, told newsmen on Tuesday that the late politician became motionless during a meeting called by him from where he was rushed to the medical centre, where he died 30 minutes later.
When contacted by our correspondent yesterday over Musa Elder’s allegation, the Senior Special Assistant on Media to the state governor, Alhaji Maharazu Ahmed, said the government would not respond now.
In another development, four members of the same family, Halliru Dalhatu, Muntaka Dalhatu, Bashir Magaji and Zaidu Salihu have died mysteriously in Katsina metropolis.
The deceased persons, who were between the ages of 19 and 23, were found dead in a shop where they slept in Kofar Guga area of the city yesterday.
An eyewitness told LEADERSHIP that the deceased as at Monday were hale and hearty before they went to sleep in the shop, only to be found dead in the morning.
According to the eyewitness, shopowners in the area realised that up to 7.00 a.m. the deceased did not wake up, so they raised an alarm and forcefully opened the shop.
The dead persons’ parents and the police were invited to the scene who later took the corpses to the Katsina General Hospital for medical examination.
However some people around the scene of the incident who spoke to Leadership suspected that the deceased may have either died of suffocation or food poisoning as a local drink, Fura, was being sold at the shop.
When contacted, the state police commissioner, Mr Dan’azumi Doma, who confirmed the incident, said the police suspected food poisoning as the possible cause of death.
Doma said the command was expecting the medical reports of their death from the General Hospital, while investigation was continuing on the case.
kenneth uwadi