Picture Credit : DAILY TRUST
By Chuks Oyema-Aziken
Wife of slain Lieutenant Colonel A.H Ali, the Commanding Officer of the 181 Amphibious Battalion, has narrated her last encounter with the late husband.
Lt. Col. Ali was murdered alongside two majors, one captain and 12 soldiers in Okuama, Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.
Hauwa Ali told DAILY TRUST that the husband called her the day he was killed.
She confirmed that they were married for 16 years and had six children, four boys and two girls.
“Words cannot describe him because he was everything to us. He was a man of his words, dedicated to both his family and work.
“Apart from his family, he sacrificed his life for Nigeria, and that’s the price he has paid. I pray that wherever he is God, would continue to be with him.
“His dedication to humanity is one thing I will always remember. No matter how he was, once he was called to work, he would make sure he fulfilled it,” she said.
Asked if she would allow some of her children to join the military in future, she said, “I will not advise any of his children to be in the military. Their father has already sacrificed his life for the country.
“We know that death is inevitable. As Muslim we have to die at some point and time, but I am really shattered by the way my husband was killed. He called me that very day and told me that he was going for a peace mission. I never knew that it was the last time we would speak.
“Nobody could call to tell me the news until Saturday. I was called from the State House.”
- How father, 2 other siblings died
Meanwhile, mother of the slain Lieutenant Colonel Ali, Hassana Hassan, confirmed to the DAILY TRUST that the late Commander is her second child to die in the military.
“Honestly, it is devastating because he is now the fourth one I lost. I have nothing to say but God is watching. He was very good to me; I lacked nothing from him. I have nothing to tell them, but God is watching everyone; he will judge on the final day,” she said.
“His brother, Captain Jamilu Ali Hassan, also paid the supreme price in 2019 in Katsina State. His colleagues told me that they were helpless, so they allowed him to be killed in a manner that no one would wish even his enemy,” she lamented.
She further narrated how her daughter, who was also married to a military man, died alongside her husband and his brother in a car accident during the fasting period some years ago.
“They came here during fasting like this to greet us, but they were involved in an accident on their way back home. She had escaped, but in trying to rescue her husband and his brother, she was caught by the fire and that’s how she also died,” she narrated.
She said her husband, a retired military man died peacefully after retirement from active service.
“I don’t know what to do. I am speechless. But if anybody has a hand in this, God is watching and he will judge accordingly,” she added.
