Like a psychopath on a rampage,? Umar Baba Wowo, a.k.a Copper, has been on the prowl of his victims. Some of them have had a bitter taste of the sharp blade of his knife. Like the perfect sadist from a thriller movie, he does not think twice before using his knife. Last Sunday, he stabbed a young man, Mallam Abdulrasheed Shukura, his fourth victim in a space of two years. MICHAEL OCHE reports.
If only Shukura knew what was to befall him, he would not have gone to Wowo’s house that fateful Sunday. In fact, if he knew the antecedents of Wowo better, he would not have had anything to do with Wowo. But like the Holy Book puts it, ‘my people perish for lack of knowledge,’ Shukura’s lack of knowledge about Wowo eventually sent him to an early grave.
In 2010, Umar Baba Wowo was sent to prison for stabbing one Isah Mohammed Dakachi, on the shoulder, with a knife. Though Dakachi was seriously injured, he survived Wowo’s attack. The police, however, arrested Wowo, who was prosecuted and found guilty of the offence of attempted murder. He was sent to Suleja Prison where he spent one year and six months.
Wowo had barely savoured the air of freedom after serving his term in prison when the beast in him decided to manifest. The ex-convict, Wowo this time around snuffed the life out of Shukura,his latest victim.
Last Sunday, at about 4pm, Abdulrasheed Shukura, 27, became the latest of Wowo’s victims after he was attacked and brutally stabbed with a knife. Shukura was unlucky because he did not survive the attack like the earlier three.
LEADERSHIP SUNDAY learnt that Shukura,? happened to be Wowo’s fourth victim in a space of two years. While the other three victims were lucky to have survived his assaults, Shukura never lived to tell the story. An eye witness, Mohammed Musara, told LEADERSHIP SUNDAY that trouble started when Shukura came to Wowo’s house to ask for his N2,000 from a phone deal they had earlier made. But an argument soon ensued, which resulted in a fight between the two. Before the neighbours and passersby could intervene, Wowo had picked a knife and stabbed Shukura.
Before Shukura who was in a pool of his own blood could be rushed to the Suleja General Hospital, he died. The news of his death spread like wild fire around Angwa Malam Shehu in Suleja Local Government Area of Niger State, the home of both the deceased- Shukura and his assailant- Wowo.
Immediately the assailant learnt of the news of his victim’s death he went into hiding. It was gathered that the police were immediately invited to intervene and a search was conducted in Wowo’s house where the police found knives and axes of different sizes and shapes.
Shukura, LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered lost his father a few years back in Suleja. He had a dream of leaving a job he was doing once he had enough money to start a trade. His dream was however, cut short by Wowo.
A police source told our correspondent that Wowo has been arrested and transferred to the State CID in Minna, the Niger State capitalfor further investigation.
Speaking to LEADERSHIP SUNDAY, Akib a brother of the deceased said he hoped justice would prevail to serve as deterrent to people like Wowo who he said didn’t deserve to be walking freely.
In his words, “This man has stabbed three other people before my brother and I hope he is sent to life imprisonment because if he is released, I wonder what next he would do. I think it is drugs, mental illness, or a combination of both that is responsible for this”.
He said that his brother has been buried according to Islamic rites but said his family still missed him and believes the only way to comfort the family is to ensure that justice is served.
Neighbours who spoke on the incident said, Wowo was known to be a bully and is always engaged in one fight or the other.
A neighbour said “since the boy came back, he is always fighting and threatening to kill somebody.