Gyang Bere, Jos
It was a gory sight and sad moment for 45-year-old Rachael Adams Malau as she watched her husband, Adams Malau groaned when four armed Fulani herdsmen suspected to be assassins invaded their house in Ngoksar village of Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State and hacked him to death.
The gunmen shot Mr Malau on target, inflicting several injuries in his stomach and his intestines gushed out like that of a butchered cow.
Malau, the national vice president of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) returned home peacefully on that fateful Sunday, August 18, from Bokkos town at about 7:20p.m.
He had no inkling that some gunmen were on his trail.
As soon as he entered his room and removed his clothes in his sitting room to watch the television, from nowhere the gunmen pounced on him in a commando style and asked him to squat on the floor.
Sunday Sun finding revealed that one of the suspects stood inside the compound, one blocked his wife, Rachael who was cooking in the kitchen while two others, battled with Mr Malau in the sitting room.
Sadly, the wife was watching the painful killing of her husband, but could not scream or shout as a gun was pointed directly on her forehead.
The gunmen had requested money from Mr Malau and he told them he had only little money as he had earlier given out some money to someone, saying that he was ready to give them what was left.
Malau, a traditional title holder in the community and a serving Principal of Government Secondary School, Mbar in Bokkos Local Government Area, was going to get the money from his bedroom, when he was shot by one of the suspected assassins.
As he fell down and blood was gushing out, the wife watched in utter disbelief of the action of the assassins. Her husband was screaming to death, but she couldn’t raise the alarm as the killers pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her if she made any noise.
The wife was half death on the floor and the killers asked her not to talk; they light their touch in the room and inside the compound and move out silently to escape.
Neigbours who heard the gunshot came out to assist, but when they saw light inside the compound they went back as they reasoned that the gunmen were still in operation.
The drama continued for about 30 minutes while Mr Malau was dying slowly. He managed to cover up his intestines with a cloth while waiting for help until the community were alerted from a neighbouring village that gunmen have killed Mr Marvelous Yilwa, a vigilante, who was trying to obstruct their escape.
It was then that the residents rushed into the house and met Malau half dead while the wife was lying blank on the floor. He was taken to a private hospital in Bokkos, but his condition was beyond what the hospital could handle and he was referred to the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH).
As the family was moving to JUTH to save his life, Malau eventually gave up the ghost on arrival due to the distance. He was certified dead by doctors on duty and the corpse was deposited at Air Force Military Hospital, Jos.
Malau who was buried on Saturday, August 24, at the family burial ground, Ngoksar, Bokkos Local Government Area of the state, left behind his wife and seven children.
One week after the burial, the widow, Rachael, narrated what happened to Sunday Sun thus:
“It was at about 7:20p.m when my husband returned home from Bokkos town, he came when I was still cooking in the kitchen and suddenly three armed men entered into the house.
“One stood on the kitchen door and asked me not to talk, one was outside and two were with my husband, they demanded for money from him, but the money he had has been given to someone.
“He explained to them, but they refused as he was going into the bedroom, they shot him and he fell down crying and groaning in pains, but there was no how I could help because my life was in danger.
“They lit their torch and allowed it in the scene to scare our neighbours from coming, those who saw the light couldn’t come close because they thought the gunmen were still operating and they were scared because they had no arm with them.
“Neighbours came and assisted us after sometime, he was shouting why will Fulani boys kill me, what have I done to them, he kept saying it as we took him to a private hospital, but his intestine was already out, he used his cloth to push it back.
“When we got to the clinic, the case was beyond them, he advised us to go to JUTH, but before we got there, the doctors confirmed him death and the corpse was deposited at Air Force Hospital, Jos.”
Rachael urged security agencies to fish out the killers of her husband for justice. “I am in pain and still shocked over this incident, it was like a dream.
“I know that my husband has not done anything wrong to deserve this ill treatment that ended his life, his killers should be fished out for prosecution to deter others who have the intention to doing the same,” she said.
His younger brother, Aborok Malau cried and wailed when he saw the motionless body of his brother on the floor in his pool of blood.
He noted that his brother was asked to take over the traditional throne of their father few years after his demise, but he declined because of his job.
He decided to recommend one of our brothers for the stool, but it was his attitude that all the elders wanted him at that time to be the king.
His words: “My brother will retire next year, he was asked some years back to take over the throne of our father, but he decided that he will continue with his job until he retires and his retirement was coming next year and gunmen killed him.
“He was someone we all depended on, the village respected him and because of his kindness to people, the elders gave him a chieftaincy title, now he has been killed, this is sad and unfortunate.
“As family, we want the security agencies to unmask his killers for there to be justice. These people are wicked, evil and heartless, they should be fished out and punished.”