Wife Sets Husband Ablaze For Spending More Time With First Wife.

A senior legislative aide in the Senate, Mohammed Ibrahim Matazu has died in Kaduna following burns he suffered when his wife set him ablaze in Abuja.

Matazu, who was Senior Legislative Aide to Senator Mohammed Sani Saleh of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) from Kaduna Central, was rushed to Kaduna after the incident where he died at the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, near Zaria and was buried in Kaduna on Thursday.

Senator Saleh told journalists in Kaduna on Friday that the law must take its full course on the matter which he described as a murder case.

 He described Matazu as the pillar in his office who contributed a lot to the development of the CPC, in his  legislative duties  and  the  smooth running of his office.

 “This is a plain murder case and a case of homicide like this is a case between the state and the accused. His wife who committed this heinous crime is in police detention now, and I intend to follow through to ensure that justice is done,” he said.

According to family sources, the angry wife who they referred to as ‘mummy’ was not happy with late Matazu who she alleged, spent more time in Kaduna with his senior wife and mother of his children.

Speaking to journalists, the deceased’s brother, Mr0 Magaji Ibrahim, said late Matazu had told him  that he had always explained to ‘mummy’ that he visits Kaduna often to represent the senator and to ensure that some of their constituency projects were completed.

“The wife said she poured petrol on him because he spent more days with the first wife in Kaduna. But my brother was always in Kaduna because of the assignment given to him by the senator. So he used to spend 10 days before going back to Abuja because he was going round the seven local governments to supervise the boreholes the senator was drilling in those areas,” he said.

According to him, ‘mummy’ was the second wife and was yet to have a child. She was being detained at a police station in Abuja. The first wife has six children.

He said last Wednesday, Matazu had told him on phone that he was coming to Kaduna from Abuja to represent Senator Saleh at a meeting  because the senator would be travelling to Imo State for another engagement.

However, a missed call rose his curiosity on Thursday morning and when he called the number, a voice that happened to be that of Matazu’s neighbour told him about his brother’s ordeal.

“He asked if I am Matazu’s brother and I said yes. He said my brother had rushed out of his room with fire all over his body, and was shouting that the fire was killing him. So the neighbours rushed and rescued him. But my brother’s wife came out of the house, saying that where is Matazu and by the time she caught up with him, she now asked him, what can you do now?That was at about 9:00am. on Thursday.”

He said when neighbours asked his brother what happened, he told them that it was his wife that poured petrol on his body and set him on fire.

“It was at this point that the neighbours grabbed the wife and called the police to arrest her. They all left for the police station with her. My brother too followed them to the police station with pains all over his body. It happened in Gwarinpa, Abuja, the day he was preparing to go to Kaduna for the meeting.

“ He was later rushed to Zone 3, Wuse hospital. He was briefly treated there as his body was bandaged. But according to the doctor’s report, 77 per cent of his body was severely burnt, though he was still talking with people.”

He said when Senator Saleh came, he advised that Matazu be taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, but there was no space for admission there and they took him to a hospital in Gwagwalada, only to be told that they were on strike.

He said they finally got an ambulance and moved him to the 44 Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna, where the doctors advised that Matazu be taken to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH).

He said about seven doctors at Shika tried their best and treated Matazu who was responding to treatment and was hoping to survive. But he died on Wednesday and was buried Thursday in Kaduna according to Islamic rites.....