200-level Uniabuja student stabbed to death by his mother’s rival

Tragedy struck yesterday in the refuse dump area of Kubwa , Abuja, after a woman, Rukayat Abdulkareem , allegedly killed her rival’s son.

The incident happened at about 10 pm.

Rukayat was said to have stabbed, Awal Sani, during an altercation with his mother.

Awal, 18, a 200 level Statistics student of University of Abuja, was said to have tried to calm Rukayat when she insulted his mother.

It was learnt that Awal was billed to resume school on Monday, January 15, 2018.

A younger brother to the late Awal’s mother, who lives with them, recalled the incident saying: “Around 10 to 10:30pm yesterday, I heard someone banging on the door, I came outside and asked her what she wanted and she said she was looking for her husband. I know the woman, they were living close to us here in Pipeline before they packed to Kaduna road.

I told her that i would check and see if I can call the husband for her, I went inside, I met my sister and informed her that the man’s wife was outside looking for him. My sister said she was going to meet the woman, i tried to stop her, i told her she was not the one the woman came for but she insisted so i followed her cause i didn’t want any problem.

“We met the woman and then I realised that if they start talking, it may result to another thing. So, I asked my sister to go inside while I went to Pipeline Police Station; I invited a policeman, he asked the woman what the problem was; she said she was here to see her husband.The policeman asked her to follow him to the station so she can write a statement and they will return to pick her husband but she said she was not going anywhere so the policeman left.

“I went inside the house and the next thing I heard was that they had stabbed Awal, I rushed out, we did all we could to save him, we rushed him to the hospital and the doctor confirmed him dead and we brought him back home. She had left when i rushed out but the vigilante security men caught and brought her later and kept her till the police arrived”.

One of Awal’s friends, who asked not to be named also recalled his last moments saying: “I have known him for about ten years. Last night, we were sitting outside together, I was lifting weight under the tree, he came outside and met me and said he wanted to go and change his phone(from a man he bought it from). We went there and the man asked us to return today to get the phone we want, we walked back home, bought suya on the way and sat on the bench under the tree chatting about how he was getting ready to return to school.

As we sat there, a slim woman who covered her head with a veil walked past us, i greeted her the islamic way, (As-salamu alaykum )but she did not respond. Awal later went in to sleep but I stayed back still lifting my weight, after a while, the woman came back, she had been hiding behind the mosque next to the building, she flashed her phone torch in my direction but I ignored her and continued with what I was doing, she then opened the back door of the car and sat in the back seat, she was still inside the car when I went to my own house to sleep.

I was trying to sleep around 11pm when my brother came to call me to come outside, that they have stabbed my friend, I rushed outside and saw him in a pool of his own blood with his mother trying to control the blood. W we rushed him to a General Hospital; we have all been crying since 11pm last night, his mother even fainted twice”.

Awal’s sister, Fatima Sani, a Higher National Diploma (HND II) student of Abdul Gusau Polytechnic in Zamfara State, was also stabbed by Rukayat said: “A woman (Rukayat Abdulkareem) came here yesterday and claimed to have issues with my mother. She was busy insulting my mother outside, my mom came out and requested that a policeman should be called for her.

They called the policeman, he came and the woman was invited to follow them to their station but she declined and said she was not going to follow them because she did not have any issue with them. Right there and then, the policeman said since she refused to follow them to the station, whatever happens to her is at her own risk. Unknown to us that she already had her plan well cooked.

She was still there insulting my mother, my junior brother, Awal got provoked and went to ask why the woman was insulting his mother despite not getting response from my mother and of course that is expected of a real son who is not a bastard but before we knew it, he was stabbed directly in the heart.

I went out to see what was happening and she also stabbed me on my palm and I was also lost lots of blood. My mom who happened to be a nurse tried to run all her first aid but it was not working, we rushed him to General Hospital and by the time we got there, the doctors confirmed him dead.

Contacted, the spokesman of FCT Police Command, Mr. Anjuguri Manzah, a Deputy Supretendent of Police(DSP) said the case had been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)for discreet investigation.

”We have received the complaint and the case has been transferred to Command CID for discreet investigation. The suspects including the alleged killer and the husband are also in our custody”.