Man shot dead while test-running bulletproof charm in Bauchi
By Matthew Atungwu
A 43-year-old man has been shot and killed while a charm against gun was being tested on him by a native doctor and three others in Bauchi State.
The deceased, Muhammadu Ali, a resident of Damaiwa village via Bursali ward Zaki Local Government Area of Bauchi State, was said to have gone to the Damaiwa bush with the four people to test if a charm would protect him against gunshots.
Unfortunately, when a locally-made gun was shot at him to ascertain the efficacy of the charm, it failed and he was killed in the process.
The Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Police Command, Ahmed Wakil, stated these in a statement made available to journalists on Tuesday.
He said that when the police received information about the incident, they rushed to the scene and evacuated the victim to the hospital, but he was certified dead on arrival by a medical doctor.
According to him, two of the suspects were immediately arrested while the others who escaped were being hunted by the police.
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Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, said: “On October 31, 2023, at about 8.30 am, information received from the officer-in-charge of the Bursali Police Outstation under Zaki Division revealed that one Danladi Ya’u, male (28) of Damaiwa village via Bursali ward Zaki LGA, Bauchi State, a native doctor (mediciner) and three other accomplices now at large, went to Damaiwa bush with the sole aim to test a gun medicine on one Muhammadu Ali, male (43) of the same address.
“While in the process, the said Muhammadu Murtala was unfortunately (shot) with the locally made gun by the said Danladi Ya’u (defendant).
He said that the command called on the public to take this act as a lesson and avoid being used as cannon fodder to casualize innocent and hardworking citizens because every human soul is very important and sacrosanct to every bearer.
Meanwhile, he added that an armed robber who, alongside others, robbed the Bishop Moore Memorial School Staff Quarters, belonging to the Bauchi Catholic Diocese, on November 4, 2023, at about 4.30 am, was killed by a mob.
Wakil stated that operatives attached to the GRA Police Divisional Headquarters led by the Divisional Police Officer in conjunction with local vigilantes swiftly responded to an armed robbery incident at the Staff Quarters.
According to him, the Commissioner of Police, while reacting to the ugly incident, frowned upon the action of the irate youths “who, instead of taking the suspect to the police for proper investigation and prosecution, mobbed him (the suspect) to death without any recourse to the law.
The PPRO said the suspects arrested are: Suleiman Adamu (19) and Umar Abubakar (19), all males and residents of Kandahar Area of Bauchi metropolis, adding that investigation revealed that the suspects specialised in breaking into students’ compounds with dangerous weapons during dark hours in Wuntin Dada.
Waki, who said a confession from the suspects revealed that they were all armed with cutlasses and sticks when they invaded the students’ compound, noted that detectives recovered two machetes, 18 mobile phones, two laptops, and three MP3 players from them.
He said an investigation into the incident was ongoing to arrest their accomplices and thereafter charge them in court for prosecution.