
On January 12, 2020, exactly 27 days after their wedding, newlyweds, Sa’adatu Muhammad Babangida and her husband Najib Ahmad were at home in Jos when she complained of toothache. At about 10:30pm she went to the kitchen to brew some java pepper (a blend of coffee) that would help alleviate her pains.
Najib waited in the bedroom but soon heard an explosion from within the house. Most of the ceiling caved in, as did most of their newly-minted lives in what the husband, Najib, would describe as “a terrible moment.” A gas explosion in the kitchen had left Sa’adatu badly burnt, crying for help.
“I started hearing Sa’adatu from the room crying
“Inna liLlahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un,” (to God we belong and to God we shall return.) I then concluded that something dreadful had happened to my lovely wife,” Najib said.




