Police Commissioner clears air on cause of death of 68 year old man in Bauchi

From David Kuvie Bauchi

Bauchi State Police command has cleared the air on the cause of death of Adamu Babanta, 68, allegedly murdered by former Bauchi State Commissioner for Information, Mohammed Damina.

The commissioner of police, Sanda Umar, said at a  press briefing in his office on Monday, that preliminary investigation established that Babanta died as a result of injuries sustained in motor a accident.and was not intentionally killed by Damina as being widely reported.

Damina, who holds the reverred traditionally title of Galadiman Dass, is accused of intentionally killing his friend Babanta with his car following altercation after the deceased  accused him of trying to woo his teenage daughter into a sexual relationship.

The deceased’s daughter, Khadijat had reported that the former commissioner was making sexual advances at her, a development that did not go down well with the father.

“Following recent public narratives on the matter, it has become imperative to update members of the public on the Command’s Investigative findings and position regarding the case,” the CP said.

“Our preliminary investigation revealed  that, on the 30th October 2022, at about 1930hrs, a case of fatal motor accident was reported at Yelwa Divisional Police Headquarters Bauchi, which was immediately transferred to the command’s central Motor Traffic Division (MTD) for a discreet investigation.

“Preliminary Investigation revealed that the incident occurred at Yelwan Tudu market junction Bauchi, involving a Honda accord sedan motor vehicle black in colour with REG. NO. DAS 688 AA which was driven by one Muhammad Damina (Galadiman Dass) “M” aged 68yrs of Yelwan makaranta Bauchi who is the suspect and the victim one Adamu Babanta “M” aged 65yrs of the same address. 

“Our findings also established that the accused (Mohammed Damina) is a neighbor to the deceased (Adamu Babanta) who called the daughter on phone and arranged to meet her at a junction near

“Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) gate Yelwan Tudu market Bauchi. The father of Khadija who is now deceased met them at that point, though not together inside the suspect’s vehicle or in any sort of compromised position, rather she was standing with the motorcycle rider that brought her to the location.

“Then her father now deceased went straight to the occupant of the vehicle (Mohammed Damina) and both of them started exchanging heated words to a point where the father now deceased started shouting “barawo-barawo” (thief-thief) this was confirmed by an eye witness; the daughter, her senior brother and the suspect. The repercussion of which is to attract mob action from bystanders and pesserby.

“In the process, the accused attempted to start his vehicle in with the intention of zooming off and evading a public escalation of the situation including possible mob action, but the deceased suddenly opened the vehicle’s door from the driver’s side.

“Notwithstanding, the accused engaged his vehicle and accelerated while the father of khadija now deceased was still clinged to the car door, as a result, he was dragged to a certain distance, when he fell off thereby hitting his head on the pavement of the road with impact

The victim was rushed to ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi for treatment, but was unfortunately confirmed dead by a medical doctor. 

The accused (Mohammed Damina) was therefore arrested and detained for investigation immediately. 

I immediately ordered an Autopsy on the corpse to ascertain the cause of his death. 

“The result was received on 08th November, 2022 from ATBU Teaching Hospital Bauchi which shows that the victim died of Traumatic Spinal cord injury and multiple skeletal/soft tissue Trauma.

As we speak, the Court has remanded the accused at the Correctional facility and I directed that the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to discreetly investigate the accordingly to unravel the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident”