. Died Of Hot Black Smoke, Say Police

THE Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kano State, Alhaji Mukaila Abdullahi, was yesterday burnt to death in his Kano residence along with his wife and two children.

Assistant Director, Public Affairs of the commission in Kano, Garba Lawan Muhammad, told The Guardian on telephone that Abdullahi and his family were burnt to death in a fire outbreak that gutted his Kashim Ibrahim Road, Nasarawa GRA residence in Kano metropolis in the early hours of yesterday.

The state Police Command yesterday debunked insinuation of foul play over the sudden and strange death of the Abdullahi and his family.

Addressing journalists at the Bompai Police headquarters in Kano, Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, maintained the REC and his family were suffocated after inhaling black smoke emitting from the split air-conditioner hose that caught fire after an electrical fault.

“At about 4:30 a.m., the policemen on guard duty at the official residence of the REC located on No. 2, Sir Kashim Ibrahim Road, Nasarawa GRA, Kano observed a fire emanating from a split air-conditioner in the sitting room.

“They made several attempts to contact the late REC, as well as repeatedly banging on the slide glass to no avail. As a last resort, the police on guard smashed some of the toilet windows, still without response.

“Thereafter, some policemen and local guards broke the door leading to the sitting room and discovered that the sitting room had already been engulfed by fire and smoke,” Idris said.

He further explained that the late Abdullahi and his family were later found unconscious in the bathroom where they locked themselves.

“The men then went to the side of the door leading to the Master Bedroom, broke the door and entered, but they were not found inside the bedroom.

“Later, they moved further to the bathroom attached to the Master Bedroom and found the REC, his wife and his two daughters unconscious on the floor, with the late REC cuddling one of the daughters,” he stated.

The Police commissioner revealed that the family was later rushed to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in Kano metropolis, where the doctor certified them dead from inhalation of hot and black smoke.

Abdullahi’s remains have been conveyed his hometown in Jigawa for burial. He was transferred from Jigawa to Kano early this year to supervise the general elections after the commission effected general redeployment of its RECs across the country.

He presided over the whole electoral process and last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections and witnessed the collation and announcement of the results, alongside the state Collation Officer, Prof Muhammad Hamisu