Tragedy of the Bauchi journalist who drowned in well

According to her father, Alhaji Yusuf, Rukayya’s body was found deep below the water of the 16-feet well after relatives and neighbours mounted a frantic search for her that lasted for about 45 minutes.

He said: “We started to look for her and somebody said he saw a pair of slippers that belonged to her at the edge of the well.  One of our neighbours decided to go into the well; it was full of water. He searched twice but could not locate her. One of her uncles then went deeper and felt her body. She was brought out and taken to the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital, Bauchi where she was confirmed dead.”

Alhaji Yusuf said he was very fond of his daughter because of her cool-headed disposition, ‘‘but I accept her death as the will of God.’’

Meanwhile, the Director General of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Malam Yusuf Nuhu, has condoled with the entire members of staff and management of Globe FM as well as the family members of the deceased and urged them to have the fortitude to bear the loss.

The Bauchi State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in a condolence statement signed by its Secretary, Malam Sanusi Mohammed Hammed, described the death of Rukayya Yusuf as a great loss to journalism.

Late Rukayya’s immediate boss, the General Manager of Globe FM, Malam Musa Usman, recalled the deceased to be a pious person, committed and dedicated worker, and noted that she called him on that fateful morning to report that she was not feeling well and wanted to consult a doctor.

Rukayya was until her death an announcer with the Programmes Department of Radio Nigeria, Globe FM, Bauchi.

Rukayya was born on May 16, 1978. She attended Baba Sidi Primary School in Bauchi between 1985 and 1990. She had her secondary school education at Federal Government College, Bauchi from 1990 to 1996. She later obtained a Diploma in Mass Communications from the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi from 2004 to 2005. She had worked at NTA Bauchi before joining Globe FM in 2007.