The Niger State Police Command has confirmed the arrest of a woman who allegedly killed and burned her co-wife in Minna, the Niger State capital.
The state Commissioner of Police Mohammed Adamu said the incident was reported by the husband Aliyu Abdullahi who narrated how he returned to his house and found his new wife Fatima killed.
The police commissioner said preliminary investigations indicated that the deceased was hit repeatedly with either a pestle or a heavy object because she was set ablaze to give the impression that she died in an inferno.
The funeral prayers of the deceased Fatima Ibrahim have since held in her hometown of Katsina.
“There are indications that the woman and her friend who served as an accomplice beat the deceased before setting her ablaze. This is because despite the burns, we took the corpse to the hospital for examination before we handed it over to the family for funerals,” the commissioner told the BBC Hausa service.
He added that the woman identified as Amina Aliyu and her three suspected accomplices are now in police custody.
“The husband had asked the deceased wife to bring her passports to process a visa for them to go on lesser hajj (umrah). Probably that irked the senior wife and led her to commit this dastardly act,” the commissioner said.
On his part, the father of the deceased, Malam Ibrahim Sidi of Sabuwar Unguwa in Katsina said he was informed of the killing of his daughter by a relation who is married and resident in Minna.
“Yesterday, after Zuhr prayer, Fatima’s elder sister Maryam called me on the phone, urging me to be patient as Fatima’s co-wife had killed her.
“My two daughters got married in Niger. Fatima was about 54 days old in her matrimonial home, and suddenly I received the news of her death through her sister Maryam,” he said.
”They had called me seeking for my permission for her to be buried in Minna. I refused and asked them to bring her corpse to my house in Katsina. So her remains arrived around 4am,” the father added.
Malam Ibrahim said Fatima had sensed danger and immediately called her sister, but the act happened before Maryam and her co-wife arrived.
He said the perpetrators made sure there was no body at home before committing the crime.
He also said that the husband called him around 12:20 am, informing him that the senior wife and her accomplices are in police custody.
”He told me that that woman had confessed that she used a pestle and was assisted by her relations who held Fatima for her,” Mal Ibrahim said.
