For many Muslims, Friday is usually a day to offer prayers of gratitude to God in sober reflection for sparing their lives and their loved ones’ throughout the week.
But for the family of a 66-year-old bean-cake seller identified as Mallama Jummai, Friday October 23 was a day for a different kind of sober reflection – misery and a deep sense of loss.
Mallama Jummai was killed at the Kano Metal Market known as Kafin Ruwa Shech, where she sold her beancakes, when a car driven by a policeman identified as Sergeant Fata Fata alias Dan Small reportedly ran into her wares and in the process submerged her in hot oil.
While her 19-year-old son Ibrahim Hassan, who helped her in selling her wares popularly called Kosai in Hausa and Akara in Yoruba, was lucky to escape with minor injuries, Jummai was not so lucky as she reportedly died on the spot, an eyewitness told The Herald.
On-lookers were said to have flown into a rage when the incident occurred and threatened to mal-handle the policeman in question, whom they accused of driving under the influence, the eyewitness confirmed.
The angry onlookers were said to have described Fata, who is a member of the Anti Daba Department of the Kano Police Command, ‘inhuman and heartless’.
According to the eyewitness who craved anonymity, the youths were irked because the policeman’s body allegedly wreaked of alcohol when he came out of the vehicle, stating that the policeman was in the habit of driving while drunk.
While confirming the incident, the Kano State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Magaji Musa Majiya, denied the allegation that Sergeant Fata was driving under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred.
The State Police PRO, who spoke to our correspondent over the phone, said that the police officer in question was on his way to his office nearby when he ran into the woman’s shed.
He said that the accident was caused by the heavy human traffic that spilled into the road from the market and prevented the policeman from seeing beyond the human road block.
He equally denied the allegation that Mallama Jummai died on the spot, stating that “the woman was rushed to the hospital but she later gave up the ghost.”
ASP Majiya said a delegation of the State Police Command had paid a visit to Mallama Jummai’s family to commiserate with them on the unfortunate incident.
It was not yet clear if any disciplinary action would be taken against the policeman in question.
