The Kano Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Munkaila Abdullahi, who oversaw last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections in the state is dead.
Abdullahi died along with his wife, Zulaiha, and two daughters, Aisha and Asmau, in a fire incident before dawn on Friday.
Spokesperson of the Kano State Police Command, Magaji Majiya, was one of the first to confirm the incident, saying the commissioner and his family died as they tried to escape through the window of their apartment.
He said the fire was suspected to have been caused by a spark in the family’s generator set.
As the fire spread to other parts of the house, the family tried but failed to escape through the window of one of the toilets in the building because of a burglary barrier.
The were confirmed dead at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital
Majiya said the State Police Commissioner, Ibrahim Idris, and the Deputy Police Commissioner in-charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID), arrived the scene almost on time.
Briefing reporters later in his office in his office, Idris dismissed insinuations that members of the family must have been assassinated, saying there was no trace of sabotage at the scene of the incident.
According to Idris, “today (Friday) at about 4:30 a.m., the police men on guard duty at the official residence of the Resident Electoral Commissioner Kano State, Alhaji Munkaila Abdullahi located at No. 2 Sir Kashim Ibrahim Road, Nassarawa GRA, Kano, observed a fire emanating from split A/C in the sitting room.
“They made several attempt to get in touch with him including banging the doors and breaking some of the toilets windows but he was not responding. The police men and local guards broke the door leading to the sitting room, and discovered the sitting room was engulfed by fire and smoke.
“They then went to the side of the door leading to the master bedroom, broke the door and entered; they were not inside the bed room and the police then went to the bathroom, inside the master bedroom and found the REC, his wife and his two daughters unconscious on the floor.
“They quickly removed them to Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital where the doctor confirmed them dead. The doctor confirmed the family died from inhalation of hot and black smoke.
“Meanwhile, the detectives attached to SCID sealed the scene and together with the fire service men have commenced thorough investigation into the fire incident.”
Abdullahi, his wife and two daughters were buried on Friday in his home state Jigawa.
The funeral prayer, conducted in Dutse Central Mosque, was attended by Jigawa State Governor, Sule Lamido; Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega; and Emir of Dutse, Alhaji Nuhu Muhammadu Sanusi, and others eminent personalities.
