The quest for two sisters in Jos, Plateau State, to confront the man who impregnated one of them resulted in a fatal death of the elder sister, reports AGABUS PWANAGBA in Jos
The popular saying “there is a thin line between love and hate” was what played out between two lovers who have been dating for the past 9 years as love crossed the thin line to become hate. It was sometime in July, 2016, when an incident occurred at Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada, a suburb in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, where two sisters, Justina Dusu Chado and Simi Dusu Chado were alleged to have clashed at a man’s house, by the name Stephen Shut Jang.
The two women in their late twenties were said to have fought, cutting themselves with glass and mirror, leading to the death of the elder sister, Simi while the younger sister miraculously survived and she is currently responding to treatment in a hospital.
However, investigations by THE AUTHORITY revealed that the two sisters were actually victims of the wickedness of one Mr. Stephen Shut Jang, who was alleged to have butchered the two sisters with a machete when the duo went to confront him about the pregnancy of Justina whom he was dating and who became pregnant for him.
The victim who survived the gory incident, Miss Justina Dusu Chado narrated their ordeal from her hospital bed thus: “I met Stephen in 2007 during the new year celebrations. I was in GSS Mai Idon Doruwa in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State and Stephen used to visit me in School. After my secondary school in 2009, I left Jos for Abuja and we were communicating on phone throughout my stay in Abuja until May 2016 that I returned to Jos.
“After coming back, I asked him if the relationship was going to lead to marriage because, while in Abuja, someone else was asking for my hand in marriage but I told person that I had a boyfriend and so, till I hear from him first.
“So, I asked Stephen if he was ready for marriage or I should accept the other man’s proposal, but he said that he was still working on it, that I shouldn’t worry. This conversation took place the first time I visited his house at Sabon Gari, Tudun Wada -Jos.
“After that, I visited his house three times to see him. That was when I discovered that I was pregnant. I told him about the pregnancy and he asked me to abort it but I told him I cannot do it as I did’t know how to do such a thing. So he flared up, insisting that I must terminate the pregnancy, so I left. Since then, he stopped picking my calls.
“My elder sister, Simi discovered the pregnancy and called him, and because he didn’t know her number, he picked the call. She asked him why he wasn’t picking my calls ever since he discovered I’m was pregnant for him but he told her to please calm down and that he would call us both to sit down and talk about it. After that call, he also stopped picking my sister’s calls too.
“My elder sister Simi and I decided to go to Stephen’s house, but he wasn’t at home. After waiting for about an hour and calling him several times but he did not pick, we left his house. “On our way going, we met him on the road and started talking to him about the issue, but he insisted that we should go back to the house and talk as the matter is a serious one that should not be discussed by the road side; so we agreed and followed him back to his house.
“On reaching the house, I told him that I have come to stay since I’m pregnant for him and as he was not picking my calls and that he should go and inform him parents. I just said that to startle him, so he told my elder sister to please excuse us so we can have a heart-to-heart talk and she went out of the room with her phone that had been ringing.
“The next thing, he locked the door, carried a machete and started cutting my face while kicking my stomach with his leg. I started shouting for help and my sister came knocking, begging him to please open the door but he refused.
“She had to breakthe door to enter the room in order to help me but immediately she entered, he turned on her and started butchering her with the same machete while I lay helplessly on the floor.
“The next thing I can remember after that was waking up to discover that I’m in the hospital; after asking where I was and what happened. It was later that I was able to recollect what happened at Stephen Shut Jang’s house and how he butchered my sister and I with machete.”
Mrs. Rifkatu Yusuf, elder sister to both Simi and Justina who is married and lives at Bukuru, Jos South LGA, in an interview with THE AUTHORITY, said the story making rounds that her two sisters clashed at a man’s house and fought, tearing themselves into pieces with mirror in his room, while he, Stephen, was out buying drinks for them is “a cooked up propaganda by Stephen Shut Jang to cover up the sins and evil he did on my sisters and painting it in a different way.
According to her, there was no way two people will fight each other and inflict these level of cuts on one another with a mirror without having cuts on their hands.
Mrs. Yusuf who is demanding that justice should be done, said the incident happened the very first time Simi is even meeting him and as such, Stephen never knew her prior to that day, talk more of her fighting with her younger sister over a man. She said Stephen Shut Jang, who is in Police custody would have simply killed them and buried them had the incident happened in the bush.
Also, a relative of the young women, Mr. Chado Dusu who is an APC Chieftain in Barkin Ladi LGA, described the two sisters, especially the Late Simi Chado as a very peaceful, compassionate and considerate.
“As a family, we have been cheated already and nothing can bring our sister back to life but all we want now is that the law should take its cause and justice be done.
“This is why we are calling on the Plateau State Government, the Nigeria Police Force, Human Rights activists, CSOs and all other relevant authorities to pick up the matter in the interest of justice.
In his reaction, the Village Head of Kanang, Foron District of Barkin Ladi LGA, where the victims hail from, Da Dung Gwom also told THE AUTHORITY that with the love the Dusu Chado familiy have for each other, there is no way the two sisters would fight each other in such a manner.
The traditional ruler added that, “life is sacred and whoever takes the life of another should not be allowed to live if our justice system must work.”
However, Mr. & Mrs. Iliya Dusu Chado parents of the victims, prayed for the soul of late Simi, who they said was the bread winner in the family, to find rest and for quick recovery of Justina who is still recuperating in the hospital.
They also reiterated that the culprit must be brought to book to stop him from doing same to other people’s daughters; as there are reports indicating that this is not the first time Stephen Shut Jang is doing such a thing.
Confirming the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer of Plateau State Command, ASP Tyopev Mathias Terna, in an interview with THE AUTHORITY, said: “We received a report sometime in July, this year that one Stephen Shut Jang, attacked two sisters who came to his house, both were taken to the hospital, one died and the other survived. But in the interim he was thinking that both of them were dead, because of the severity of the attack he carried out on them.”
Terna further explained that, “Later on the sister who we later discovered was pregnant for him had came to ask him to take responsibility but he refused and started beating her and attacked her with a cutlass; who later on survived, but it was the elder sister who followed her to Mr. Jang’s house that died.”
However, “when he was confronted with the fact that the other one survived, he now opened up, that he really attacked them, but it was the devil that pushed him into attacking them.”
The PPRO assured that investigation into the matter is ongoing, adding that the case would soon be transferred to the State CID, for further investigation and possibly he should be charged to court as soon as possible.
According to the Police Spokesperson, “What actually delayed the investigation was that he was so vehement that the two sisters were fighting over him. It was later when he discovered that the girlfriend who was pregnant survived, that he opened up.
“From my own understanding, it was very impossible for two sisters to fight especially to that extent over a man that was why we persisted. Some people came for him to be released on bail, but we insisted, that since human life is involved, we must get to the root of the matter. And now that the mystery behind it has been unraveled, he would be charge to court very soon.”
On the insinuation that the police are intending to free him or release him on bail, Terna said it was not true, noting that “it’s just a mere allegation aimed to dent our name. We are a set of responsible people; we cannot do a thing like that. “So we are assuring members of the public that, very soon Jang would be charge to court.”