Newly married man stabbed to death

A newly married man, Lawal Bala, was yesterday stabbed and killed while relaxing in his house at Layin Sidi, Gangare in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
The incident happened shortly after Bala returned from work.
The 30-year-old butcher screamed and staggered outside with a knife stuck in his neck.
A witness, who craved anonymity, claimed she saw the deceased outside his house with a knife protruding from his neck while his wife, Maryam Yahaya, was shouting “they have killed my husband”.
Hundreds of sympathisers gathered in front of the house of the deceased; some were crying while others said his wife must be produced.
Policemen from C Division, Jos, took the corpse to the Plateau State Hospital for post-mortem while his wife was taken to the police station.
Some youths accused Maryam of complicity in her husband’s killing.
“Why did she attempt to run away; why didn’t she scream?” one of them asked.
But the late Bala’s elder brother, Alhaji Hamza Dikko, who is the chairman of Butchers Association, Gangare Ward and the ward chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, said: “Lawal never complained to me about his wife.
“Their marriage was exactly one month this Saturday and we were at the mosque for Zuhur prayer earlier in the afternoon.”
A friend of the deceased, Zakaria Aliyu, said “we were together this afternoon. Then 40 minutes later, someone called to tell me that Lawal has been killed; that a knife was used to slit his throat”.
Aliyu described the deceased as “a very calm person. I cannot tell you that Lawal has enemies. We grew up together and Lawal will not hurt a fly”.
“On hearing the news, I immediately went to the house and there was blood everywhere I just couldn’t look at him, we then went to the Gangare police station to report the matter,” he added.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Felicia Anslem, confirmed the incident.
She said: “Some armed men went to the house of Lawal Bala while he was with his wife and used a machete to slit his throat. However, investigation is still on to get to the root of the matter.”
A source at the C Division explained that Bala’s wife “is a very young girl, not more than 17 years old”.