The wife of a slain banker, Mohammed Suleiman, has spoken of her enduring grief and unanswered questions after her husband was ambushed and killed near Katsina earlier this month.
Mrs Talatu Suleiman recalled the last moments she saw her husband alive on August 4, as he left for a banking trip covering Zaria, Malumfashi, and Gusau.
“I usually don’t call him on official trips, so I didn’t hear from him until colleagues came around 7 pm to break the news of his death,” she said.
Suleiman, 51, had just resumed as a regional manager with Union Bank, barely three weeks before the fatal attack.
According to accounts given by the driver and other bank staff, the banker was ambushed by suspected kidnappers.
While the driver escaped into the bush, Suleiman ran towards a nearby town and allegedly hid by a mosque.
The driver later learnt that soldiers had intervened and taken him to hospital. But by the next day, the banker was confirmed dead.
“I wasn’t there, I can’t give a direct account. All I know is what the driver told me. Everything is in Allah’s hands,” Mrs Suleiman said.
When the body was returned, the widow discovered one gunshot wound on his stomach, though the driver had spoken of three. His personal belongings, including his mobile phone and ATM card, are still missing.
“It’s kind of suspicious because the story doesn’t really add up,” she admitted. “But the only thing I can do is leave everything to God, because He knows all things.”
Mrs Suleiman described her late husband as “beyond description… a man I would marry over and over again.”
“He was a very good man, a very good father. Not perfect, but close to it. Now he’s gone, and I still can’t believe it. I keep thinking he will walk back through the door,” she said tearfully.
The couple had been married for 27 years and have five children, aged between 10 and 22.
The grieving widow urged the government to tackle insecurity so that other families do not suffer the same fate.
“My husband died in pain, in agony. The killings must stop. Too many women are being left as widows. Too many children are left wandering the streets orphaned. The government can do something, and I pray Allah helps them to do it,” she appealed.
She revealed how her children still weep quietly in their father’s room.
“He was the kind of father who played with them, joked with them, and laughed with them. Beyond our children, he was a father to many, paying school fees and helping orphans. Their future too has been cut short,” she said.
Despite her pain, Mrs Suleiman said she remains strong in her faith.
“Everything is in Allah’s hands. But this is not going to be easy for many people. If only those who did this knew him, they wouldn’t have taken his life.”