Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2010/05/04/2-die-in-well-over-n1000/KADUNA—THERE was confusion in the Kadara area of Sabon Tasha, Kaduna State, weekend, following the death of two young men inside a well.
Sources said the two young men dived into a well, rijia, in the area to recover a missing N1000 bill but did not come out alive.
An Igbo woman was said to be fetching water from the well in the neighbourhood, where her shop is located, when the N1000 note fell into the well. She reportedly asked anybody who could recover the money to do so on the condition that the recovered money would be shared equally.
A source told Vanguard: “A newly married man who was simply identified as Bosofa from the Jabba tribe in the state was resting in front of his house after watching the Chelsea versus Liverpool match on television at about 6.00 p.m on Sunday when some friends called him to try his luck in recovering the missing money to enable him collect N500.
“Bosofa who lived at 7, Kadara Street, reportedly ran to the adjacent street where the money fell into the well and took a fatal dive into the well.”
It was learnt that when Bosofa failed to come out, another youth also dived into the well to rescue him as well as recover the missing N1000 but also got stuck inside.
However, when the two men failed to come out of the well, the husband of the Igbo woman who had earlier advised his wife to forget the missing money raised alarm that attracted neighbours who removed the victims to a nearby hospital where they were confirmed dead.
The landlord was later invited following the ensuing confusion but he reportedly threw out the couple’s property, claiming that the couple had used the victims for money making rituals. He was joined by angry youths who tried unsuccessfully to lynch the Igbo couple.
Vanguard gathered that the couple sneaked out to the police station where they took refuge, just as other Igbo neighbours in the area were reported to have gone into hiding following fears of mob attack.
At about 9.00 a.m., yesterday, when Vanguard visited the scene of the incident, policemen in two Operation Yaki vehicles were stationed in the area as some youths milled around smoking substances suspected to be Indian hemp.
One of the police vehicles had registration number AG 108 KJR while the other simply had fleet number 1001 written on both sides.
The policemen, led by an Inspector, were seen picking some items, including photographs from the heap of the property of the Igbo couple including wedding photographs, refrigerators, cupboards, pots and other household items that were seen scattered in front of both their shop and house.
The police at Sabon Tasha declined comments on the matter but Bosofa’s pregnant wife was said to have gone into “forced” labour while the Igbo couple have been detained by the police at the time of filing this report.
