Katsina-Alu escapes death, loses wife •Tree falls, kills CJN’s wife in his compound

CHIEF Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu, on Saturday night, came within a whisker of death but lost his wife,

Victoria Mimi, when a tree fell on his house at Lassel, headquarters of Ushongo Local Government Area of Benue State.

The tree, according to a reliable source, fell on Mrs Katsina-Alu while one of the branches brushed the CJN’s waist.

Mr Ajiryar Katsina-Alu, a relation of Justice Katsina-Alu, told journalists that the Chief Justice and his wife, who sat in the compound, had a late dinner and were about to go inside when a rainstorm started.

“She stood up and told her husband that they should go inside and was steps ahead when the wind uprooted one of the trees in the compound, which fell on her as she was about stepping into the house,’’ he said.

According to Mr Katsina-Alu, the tree also cut the branches of another tree which it fell on and upturned the chair on which the CJN was still sitting, pushing him to the ground.

He disclosed that while Justice Katsina-Alu sustained minor bruises, his wife, who would have turned 54 next month, was picked up unconscious and was rushed to Myom Hospital in Gboko, where she was confirmed dead. Her body has since been deposited at the Gboko General Hospital mortuary.

Mrs Katsina-Alu died after she supervised the wedding of her niece, Erdoo Akaa and her husband, Terseer Ado, at the Victory Saints Church in Alu village and was said to have attended to guests until late in the evening.

The early sympathisers at the home of the CJN in Lessel included Benue State governor, Mr Gabriel Suswam’s deputy, Chief Stevephen Lawani; Senator George Akume; Benue State Chief Judge, Justice Iorhemen Hwande; Justice Margaret Igbetar, President, Customary Court of Appeal; Mr Chive Kaave, Attorney-General and Justice Commissioner.

Others were Sebastian Hon (SAN), Thaddeus Asua and Polycarp Kwahar, High Court judges; Mr Shaapera Naako, Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, as well as proprietor of Royal Choice Inn, Mr Felix Akiga.