The wife of Abubakar Sulaiman killed by a container in the Ojuelegba area of Lagos shares her story with PUNCH Newspaper in the interview…
The late Suleiman ran a bureau de change business at the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos and was survived by five children – Sulaiman, 15, Idris, 14, Abdulrahman, 10, Nana, 7 and two-year-old Hauwa.
The 48-year-old never made it back home on that day when a fully loaded 40ft container that had fallen off the Ojuelegba bridge in the heart of the city that afternoon landed on his black Toyota Sports Utility Vehicle, ended his life and that of two other occupants.
His death leaves the entire family in shock and in agony.
“I started having a strange feeling from afternoon of that day after calling his mobile phone several times without a response from him,” Abubakar’s wife, Zainab, told PUNCH Newspaper correspondent in their Agege Lagos home on Friday.
“I became restless; my thoughts were on him all the time,” she continued. “So, I called one of his friends later that evening to find out if they were together. The friend told me that they were not together and that he had gone out with another of his friends. By the time I called that one too he was not picking so I called one of my brother-in-laws to know if he had heard from my husband.
[PUNCH Newspaper/media-credit] Zainab surrounded by three of her children
“Not satisfied, I started calling the number of his driver, Kamilu. Later a policeman picked the call and asked who I was, I told him and he said I should tell my husband to call the number and speak with them. I told him that my husband was with the driver I wanted to speak with and immediately they cut the call. When I called back they told me to tell an adult male in the family to call the number so they could speak. By the time the news was eventually broken to me, I fainted. I don’t know how I survived those moments,” she said amid sobs as the scores of young and middle-aged women around her made spirited attempts to console her.
“He promised to have us celebrate our 16-year wedding anniversary on October 24,” she cuts in solemnly. “We were both looking forward to that special day. But death has ended that dream. The children cry every night, asking after their father. Words cannot tell the vacuum we feel in our hearts. Life can never be the same without him,” she said before burying her face in a small towel. The sight would certainly melt even the hardest of hearts.
