It was sorrows, tears and blood yesterday in Kano as daredevil assassins slaughtered a State Security Services (SSS) operative, his wife and three of his children – in an attempt to wipe out a whole family but two other family members escaped by whiskers.
Late Alhaji Garba Bello, 55, is attached to the medical unit of the Sokoto State command of the SSS. Police and family sources said the attackers did not remove a pin from the house, as all personal belongings of the victims were intact when the corpses were discovered yesterday morning.
The suspected hired assassins who arrived the residence of the late Bello, located at Kundila Housing Estate, Zoo Road around 1:30 in the early hours of yesterday, gained entry into the house and got hold of the head of the household and six other members of the family including the man's wife and his five children.
Investigations revealed that the suspected assassins, who used face masks to cover their identity, used machetes and knives to attack their victims with the intent of killing all the family members. The police in Kano have confirmed the death of five of the family members while two others escaped with various degrees of injuries.
Apart from Bello, others who lost their lives were his wife, Hajiya Habiba (Hajiyayye), daughters; Hafsat, 17 and Murja, 5, as well as son, Khalifa, who is said to have just enrolled into senior secondary school.
However, two of the children, the eldest, Bello (Baba) and Farouk, 11, escaped with machete cuts. Baba who was said to be at upper apartment of the house started to shout for help when he noticed the presence of some strange men within the house.
A source said when the assassins got wind of his presence, they aimed for him but he headed for a wall to cross over. He sustained a cut in his wrist and some bruises.
Farouk, on his part, was said to have escaped and hid in the toilet when their attackers trailed him. A family source said Farouk is presently on admission in a hospital to treat the wounds he sustained in on his limp and stomach.
A younger brother of late Bello , Malam Umar Muhammad Bello, who described the incident as painful and devastating, disclosed that he has was with his deceased elder brother the previous evening as he went to bid him farewell before he returns to his work station.
“When I came to see him yesterday, he told me that he could not open the house for subhi prayers and that despite that he closed the doors himself, he had noticed something strange that he had to cut some locks before he open the gate,” Bello said.
He recalled that, he spent a quality time with his late brother and informed him that he was in the house to bid him farewell at the end of their sallah holiday. He said, “Unknown to us that would be our last meeting.”
Similarly, the elder sister of the household, Habiba Bello, Hajiya Jummai Danjani said she received a call from her sister late at night when the murderers first broke into the house.
"I was deep asleep and could not verify who was calling, when I picked, I heard her (late Habiba) saying, 'Aunty Jummai, they have come to kill us' and when I demanded to know who was on the line, she just said 'it's okay, it's okay' and hung off the line." Mrs Danjani disclosed.
On his part, Kano State commissioner of police, Mr Mohammed J Gana, who briefed reporters immediately after visiting the house of the bereaved family, described the incident as deliberate assassination.
"I have looked at the scene, it is evident that they are assassins who have grudges against him; it was not robbery because the properties are intact. May be he has offended somebody somewhere, whether he we he is serving in Sokoto or somewhere." CP Gana said.
The remains of the five victims were buried yesterday after autopsy tests were conducted on the corpses. Governor Ibrahim Shekarau and his deputy, Engineer Abdullahi T Gwarzo, were among those who attended the funeral prayers.
