AHMAD RUFAI shares the inside story of how a wedding ceremony became a tragic event after a young bride allegedly poisoned her husband’s food on their wedding night, leading to the death of one person.
When a wedding ceremony is held anywhere in the country, it is usually a fun-filled and joyous event. It is, however, rather unusual for one to get poisoned by their spouse on that day
This was the case of Khamis Haruna, a 34-year-old groom who was allegedly poisoned by his 14-year-old bride, Zahara’u Dauda. He has, however, in an even more unusual response, said the suspect is still and remains his wife and the incident an act of God Almighty that no one could prevent.
The bride allegedly poisoned her groom through a meal of jollof spaghetti which, on the first night of their marriage, she sent to him while waiting for the departure of family, friends and well-wishers who had brought her to his house from her parent’s place.
The incident occurred at Albasu Village in Jahun Local Government Area of Jigawa State in December last year. The new wife was suspected to have poisoned the food which her husband and two of his friends ate. This led to the death of his friends, one which was planning the naming ceremony of his twin babies.
Report from the state indicated that Khamis Haruna and his friend, Isyaku Adamu, escaped death, but spent the night at Jahun General Hospital, battling for their lives. The second friend, Muhammad Alfah, however died at the hospital.
Speaking to Nigerian Tribune the groom said, “We got married on Friday, 20th of December, 2023 and the ceremony continued till Sunday, the 22nd, when my bride Zahara’u was brought to my house as the last event for the occasion.
“At around 10 pm that day, the two of my friends asked me to go into the bride’s room. I said no as some women who escorted her hadn’t left.
“So we were at my friend’s shop near the house when some of the bride’s friends came and brought the food which was jollof spaghetti for me and left.”
The groom stated further: “We were married out of love. She loves me and I love her too. We were in love for two years. I saw her in the neighboring village called Bakata in Kiyawa Local Government Area and approached her almost two years ago. Since she was still young so I waited. And when she clocked 14 years, I made all the arrangements for marriage and we got married on a Friday and I brought her to my house on Sunday, the day of the tragic incident.”
According to him, “I was sitting on the floor with the late Muhammad Alfah, while Isyaku was on his sewing machine when they brought the food. I uncovered the food immediately and asked them to come and join me. I started eating immediately and my friends also joined me to eat.
“I ate like six spoons. When Isyaku pointed his torch at the food, we observed there were some substances in the food. Noticing that, we became suspicious. So we stopped eating and we smelt the food. But it did not smell any different from the usual. Also there was no difference in the taste of the food. But we were all not comfortable and became scared.”
He added: “A few minutes later, Alfah started complaining about his stomach. He stood up to leave. He started staggering. I held him and took him to our friend’s house which was close. When we got inside, all of us started feeling the same.
“We were given milk but there was no relief as the situation became worse. We were immediately taken to Jahun Hospital where Alfah died.”
He said, “I’m really surprised. We were married for love. She never showed any worry in our relationship. And she never displayed any sign of guilt before carrying out the evil act. This is an act of God Almighty. He made it to happen no one could stop it.”
Also speaking, the biological father of the deceased, Malam Muhammad Sani, said Alfah was his only son. Alfah was survived by his wife and two children who were just six days old when he was killed.
Sani described his son as loyal, responsible religious and disciplined. “I really miss him. I totally relied on him. As you can see, I’m old he was the one taking care of the family responsibilities – our food, clothes, and all. Alfah was really gentle. May Allah SWT forgive all his sins and grant him Jannatil Fiddausi.”
According to Sani, “On the fateful day, he came back from market where he bought some foodstuffs, including rams and other items for the naming ceremony of the twins that his wife gave birth to. The naming was to be on the following day which is Monday. Knowing that his friend was having his wedding ceremony, he went to the venue and joined others there.
“Khamis was among his best friends. He waited to see the groom off to the bride’s room which is part of the tradition. That was the last I heard, only to be informed later that he was sick and taken to hospital in the night from the wedding venue. He was confirmed dead in the morning.”
The father of late Alfah, who broke down in tears while speaking to Nigerian Tribune, demanded justice for his son.
On his part, Isyaku Adamu, the friend who also narrowly escaped death, described the deceased as his close friend since childhood.
According to him, “Late Alfah joined us after he came back from market where he bought rams to be slaughtered for the new-born twins the following day.
“We were together, the three of us, in my tailor shop when the bride groom came and said the bride sent people to bring food to us. Without any delay we started eating.
“It was jollof spaghetti and meat. In an attempt to share the meat among us, I used my torch to shine light on the food. It was then that we discovered something strange in the food. We became suspicious. I covered the food container and kept it, thinking of how to ascertain what was really in the food. Alfah complained about his stomach. We were all scared and knew we were poisoned.”
He added “There and then, I and Khamis started feeling aches and pains in our stomach. That is how we realised what we saw in the food was poison. We didn’t know when were taken hospital where he (Alfah) died.”
The father of the deceased, Malam Muhammad Sani, Isyaku Adamu and the groom, Khamis Haruna, all appealed to the authorities for justice for the late Muhammad Alfah.
When contacted the Jigawa State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Lawal Shiisu Adam confirmed the incident.
He said, “One Zahra’u Dauda ‘f’ age 15 years of Bagata Gabas village conspired with her ex-lover, age 22 years of Bagata Gabas Yamma village, all in Kiyawa LGA, to poison her husband’s food, one Kamisu Haruna ‘m’ age 29 years of Albasu village, Jahun local government area.”
According to police spokesperson, “The husband and his two friends ate the food together, and as a result, they developed stomach aches. Victims were rushed to the hospital where one of the groom’s friends was confirmed dead by the medical doctor on call. The case is under investigation.”