The Borno State Police Command has arrested three Civilian Joint Task Force(CJTF) members for allegedly killing a teacher, Babagana Ahmed Gaidam.
The 42-year-old headmaster of Asheikh Jarma Mega School, at Bulumkuttu Abuja, in Maiduguri, was stabbed to death at his residence at 3 am on Monday, October 12.
According to reports, the suspects were arrested at Bulumkuttu Abuja area of Maiduguri on Tuesday, October 12, following a directive by the Commissioner of Police(CP), Abdu Umar.
Gaidem was said to have been transferred to the Asheik Jarma Mega Primary School about seven weeks ago.
According to sources, the victim, upon resumption in the school, embarked on reforms of some operational policies.
A teacher and friend of the deceased, Abdullaziz, said that the reforms included the disengagement of the civilian joint task force deployed as security men in the school after he discovered that there were issues pertaining to theft of the school properties.
Abdullaziz narrated “When he got to the school, he discovered that there were issues pertaining to theft of school property, such as fans, ACs and other important learning equipment, which were being removed and sold. Yet, there were security personnel stationed in the school. So, he organised a management meeting to discuss the way forward and at the meeting, it was agreed that the civilian JTF should be relieved. The management hired Fulani men in their place, but it (the decision) did not go down well with the JTF volunteers.”
A family member said that after disengaging them, the CJTF members reportedly visited the residence of the victim to warn him to “stay away from them or else they would kill him.”
They met his wife when they came last week and she relayed the message to her husband.
According to a resident, Ali Usman, the assailants rode a motorcycle to the victim’s house on Monday and broke into his room while he was fast asleep.
Usman said.”I was wondering who was riding a motorcycle at such an ungodly hour especially when I knew there was a curfew and a ban on the use of motorcycles in the state. The noise turned to shouting; I woke up my wives and together we went to the house of Babagana to find him in a pool of blood. One of my wives collected the small baby from his crying wife and we rushed him to a specialist hospital, where he was confirmed dead by a doctor. The incident happened around 2.45 am; I checked my watch to confirm the time. His wife gave birth to a baby boy exactly one month today (Monday) aside from the three children they had. His first child is 10 years old. He has been buried according to Islamic rites,”
The wife of the deceased had disclosed that her late husband recognised his killers as he was heard screaming their names, while they were stabbing him until he passed away.
The Police said the names given by the wife of the deceased, which the victim was mentioning before his death made it very easy to identify the suspected culprits. The three suspects would be transferred to the State’s Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department of the Command for investigation.
The Senior Police Officer said the suspects would be charged for culpable homicide if found guilty of the crime.