By Hamidu Sabo
Katsina
Former first lady Hajiya Turai Umaru Yar’adua has ordered the arrest of her 70-year-old house-help and his two sons for alleged missing food stuff and undisclosed amount of money.
Malam Yusuf Sarkin Gida, who is the longest serving house-help to former president, late Umaru Yar’adua’s family, was arrested in his residence at Filin Samji quarters in Katsina.
Blueprint gathered that the arrest was conducted following the directive of Hajiya Turai through the state’s Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Mohammed, two days to Sallah.
A reliable source in the family revealed that armed policemen invaded the Sarkin Gida’s residence in the afternoon and searched the entire house, but only found three measures of rice and quarter bag of maize in the house.
According to the source, later in the day, his eldest son and second to the last born in the family was arrested and taken to the Katsina prison along with their father.
He said, in an effort to reach the former first lady in Abuja, for explanation, five of them, including his wife, had accident around Kankara village and sustained serious injuries.
Our reporter also gathered that Sarkin Gida had served the Yar’Adua family for over 40 years and was never found wanting by the late President.
In an interview with one of his sons, he disclosed that the family hardly ate three square meals a day, despite their father’s closeness to the late Yar’Adua family.
He said their father marked the Ed-el Kabir prayer in Katsina prison without being taken to court.
He said Turai was not specific in her complaint against their father, but ended up jailing him, described the development as “unfortunate”.
He said the family was worried over the arrest and Turai’s behaviour toward their father by directing that he should not be released.
The family appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Governor Aminu Bello Masari and the Human Rights Commission to come to the rescue of the family, saying, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.