[EDITORIAL] Mother of woman killed in Bauchi says her daughter was mentally unstable, not a suicide bomber

The woman who was killed by a mob at the Muda Lawal market in Bauchi state on Sunday March 1st following her refusal to be searched by security men stationed at the entrance of the market has been identified as 33 year old Thabita Haruna, a mentally deranged woman (Inset).

Tabitha's mother, Mrs Rahab Haruna, while speaking to journalist at her home at Yelwa-Tsakanni, a suburb of the Bauchi metropolis revealed that her daughter, who is her first child, was not a suicide bomber. She said she had developed a mental illness in 2005 after her fish business crumbled. She said,

"It is very surprising that my daughter was referred to as a suicide bomber. How could my daughter have been a suicide bomber? She is innocent. Given her condition, how could anyone say that she was a suicide bomber? She used to sell fish at the Army Barracks but in 2005, her business crumbled and since then, she became mentally ill. If the symptom of her illness kicked in, she could destroy anything close to her. She used to tell me, ‘don’t touch me. Don’t touch me.’ We have been going with her to the hospital for her treatment. She was a well-known person at the Muda Lawal market area. The people knew me as well. 

She grew up at Bacas, which is close to the market. Nothing can bring my daughter back. Since the case is in the hands of the security, we leave everything to them to handle. If they fail to do anything about it, we will leave everything in the hands of God ” she said amid sobs. Her sister who spoke recently to BBC also stated that Tabitha was mentally unstable. She expressed her sadness over loosing her elder sister in such a manner "I feel very very sad because she is my blood. We sleep in the same bed, we eat at the same plate. That really pains me."she told BBC.

Corroborating the family's claims, the state Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, said that investigations so far carried out by the police proved that Tabitha was not a suicide bomber, adding that she was a victim of a paranoid society

“According to her family, Tabitha Haruna, 34, was mentally disturbed. According to the family, she was a wealthy business woman but she became mentally ill when her business suffered a major setback. It is quite unfortunate that this lady was a victim of circumstance. She was a victim of people who took laws into their hands. When we got to the scene, we saw a rampaging crowd there. We successfully dispersed them and our explosive ordinance disposal unit combed the whole area but found no explosives. The command warns members of the public against taking laws into their hands. We will not fold our arms and watch people take laws into their hands. We will arrest and prosecute anyone found wanting,” he said.