If 27-year-old Ladi Sani Moses knew that evil was lurking, perhaps she would never had obliged to have a word with an admirer who visited her home about 7pm last week Wednesday. She lived with her parents at the old Nigeria Prison Service Yard in Wadata, Makurdi. She not only got the shock of her life when she escorted the young man outside, but she did not survive the incident to share her story.
Daily Trust gathered that the ex-student of Government Secondary School, Marit Barkin-Ladi in Plateau State was attacked and bathed with a substance suspected to be corrosive acid by a young man who visited her at her family home, for reasons unknown. But, family sources said the supposed boyfriend was only an admirer who had continued to pressure his victim into accepting romantic advances.
The incident, which took place on November 4, left late Moses in excruciating pain which she battled for a few days at a private hospital in Makurdi after which she was taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Makurdi for secondary attention. She finally gave up the ghost on Monday, precisely five days after as a result of the degree of burns she suffered from the acid bath.
Spokesman of Benue State Police, ASP Matthew Oku, confirmed the incident, naming the suspect Simon Elemuna, popularly called “Baba” and that he is resident at North Bank in Makurdi. According to Oku, the police arrested the suspect at 3:00am on the same night he attacked Moses. He was arrested in a Port Harcourt-bound vehicle at the Wurukum Park, in an apparent bid to escape justice.
Witnesses told Daily Trust that the suspect was said to have removed a bottle containing acid from his pocket and poured it on the face of late Moses soon after he was confident that they were both alone. “She screamed loudly and fell on the ground, attracting neighbours. The assailant had fled by that time,” a witness said. A vigilante group in the vicinity mounted a search for the suspect and with the police apprehended Elemuna.
Daily Trust found out that the suspect was subsequently handed over to the police at ‘A’ Division, Wadata from where he was transferred to the police headquarters, Makurdi. The police spokesman said investigation was still ongoing, just as he also confirmed the death of the victim.
The victim’s mother, Mrs. Saratu Sani, tearfully alleged that Elemuna had earlier threatened to deal with her daughter for rejecting him.
Neighbours told Daily Trust that late Moses was always of good behaviour.
