Hajiya Ummulkhairi Daba, widow of Commander Murtala Muhammad Daba, the naval pilot, who flew the helicopter that crashed in Bayelsa State while conveying the late Governor of Kaduna State Patrick Yakowa and former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Patrick Azazi and four others to Port Harcourt, Rivers State, is still devastated by the death of her husband in the disaster.
At their Kano family home where sympathisers trooped in to condole with her, she was calm but sobbed intermittently. As she looked around the people that surrounded her, she muttered a few words: “! was looking forward to receiving my husband in Lagos for his forthcoming break, which would have given us the opportunity to be together for our wedding anniversary, but that will never happened again.”
The mourners, who came individually or in groups offered prayers with her for the repose of her husband’s soul and protection for the family that he left behind. She responded all through with appreciative nods and “Amin” to all of them.
When LEADERSHIP Weekend approached her for an interview, she politely asked to be excused for a moment to enable her observe her prayer. When she later sat for the interview, the first question drew tears from her. In between sobs, she told LEADERSHIP Weekend that November 27, 2012 would have been their fourth wedding anniversary.
She described their marriage, which is blessed with a two-year-old baby girl as, “a very happy and peaceful one. Without Murtala in our lives, nothing would ever be the same again, but I am taking solace in the fact that God gives and God takes. He has given Murtala to me and he has taken him away from me, there is nothing I can do than to say Alhamdulillah.”
On the most memorable moment she spent with her late husband, Mrs. Daba said, “every moment I spent with him was memorable. The last time we were together was on a weekend three weeks ago. Since it was the last moment we shared together, then it was the most memorable. We spent the weekend indoors. After that he left our home in Lagos for Warri for an assignment. I never knew it was the last time I would see him.”
Hajiya Daba described her late husband as someone who hardly got angry or reacted irrationally to pressure, adding that I spent the best years of my life with him. ‘‘Life will never be the same again for me. But I know Allah is in control.”
No comments:
Post a Comment