Residents of Gombe were thrown into mourning on Saturday after a dismissed shop assistant allegedly stabbed his employer, Abdul’azeez Aliyu (popularly known as Dan-malam), to death.
The incident, which occurred in the presence of the victim’s mother, happened barely three weeks after the victim’s wedding.
The tragedy took place just 22 days after Abdul’azeez married his wife, Jamila, on December 26.
The bride’s father and community head of Kumbiya-Kumbiya, Malam Ibrahim Garba Hassan Pantami, described the 27-year-old widow as devastated.
He noted that Jamila had personally chosen Abdul’azeez as her husband before fate cut their union short.
“She was in deep pain when I met her. Because she is a memorizer of the Qur’an, I advised her to hold firmly to her recitation for comfort,” Pantami said, praying that Allah forgives the deceased and grants Jamila strength and a better future.
A family friend, Rabi’u Baushe (the Baushen Gombe), described Abdul’azeez as disciplined and hardworking. He revealed that the deceased had recently completed his university education and secured a government job in Abuja.
He said Abdul’azeez had just returned from documentation in the nation’s capital but did not live to resume duty.
According to Baushe, Abdul’azeez ran a café business where he employed several youths and that due to issues with indiscipline, he had dismissed a number of them. One of the sacked workers reportedly returned to the shop on the day of the incident.
Baushe explained that Abdul’azeez’s mother had asked her son to accompany her into the neighborhood. He stopped at his shop to drop off some documents before they set out.
“At the shop, the dismissed boy appeared and was asked to leave. The boy ran into a nearby tailor’s shop, picked up a pair of scissors, and returned. As Abdul’azeez was about to step out, he was stabbed in the chest in front of his mother,” Baushe said.
Attempts to speak with the victim’s mother were unsuccessful as she remained in a state of shock.
Many residents described Abdul’azeez as calm, respectful, and religious, noting he was raised under the strict moral guidance of his father, a respected Islamic scholar in the area.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Gombe State Command, SP Buhari Abdullahi, said the suspect, a 16-year-old boy, has been arrested.
He said the victim was rushed to the Specialist Hospital, where doctors confirmed him dead.
“The suspect claimed he was demanding money owed to him by the victim. An argument broke out and he stabbed Abdul’azeez in anger,” the police spokesman said, adding that an investigation is ongoing.
Abdul’azeez was buried on Sunday at the Bolari Juma’at Mosque cemetery, amid prayers from family members, friends, and sympathizers.