A dispute between the Supervisory Councillor on Works, Gwagwalada Area Council, Arc. Suleiman Mohamed, and the wife of the council chairman, Mrs Yinka Kasim, has reportedly escalated beyond a confrontation at the chairman’s residence, with allegations of insults and subsequent threats now surrounding the incident.
The controversy reportedly started when Arc. Suleiman visited the residence of Gwagwalada Area Council Chairman, Hon. Kasim Mohammed Ikwa.
According to an eyewitness account, he initially disagreed with the main security guard, who reportedly asked him to contact the chairman or his wife before entering the premises.
He was later allowed into the residence by the chairman’s driver.
Arc. Suleiman reportedly proceeded towards the master bedroom, where Mrs Kasim saw him and asked him to remain in the sitting room like other visitors.
She reportedly explained that the bedroom was private.
The exchange was initially said to have been relatively friendly, with the two reportedly laughing before Arc. Suleiman went to the sitting room.
The situation allegedly changed when Mrs Kasim later noticed him heading towards the master bedroom again.
She reportedly followed him and confronted him over what she regarded as a disregard for the boundary she had already established.
According to the eyewitness, Mrs Kasim told Arc. Suleiman that she did not appreciate the action and questioned why he would disregard her privacy after she had already made her position clear.
The confrontation reportedly escalated, with Arc. Suleiman allegedly insulting Mrs Kasim and calling her names.
The chairman was reportedly present during the incident.
After the confrontation, Arc. Suleiman reportedly complained to the chairman, who allegedly instructed Mrs Kasim to leave the room. She reportedly complied.
The matter reportedly continued later when Arc. Suleiman met Mrs Kasim in the kitchen. He was said to have spoken to her in Hausa before eventually telling her not to be offended.
More serious allegations subsequently emerged, however, after Mrs Kasim reportedly alleged that Arc. Suleiman threatened to make her life miserable, force her out of the house, ensure that she received no money from her husband and “destroy” her.
The allegations of threats are not based solely on the eyewitness account, as evidence reportedly exists in which Arc. Suleiman is heard making statements consistent with the threats alleged by Mrs Kasim.
The recording provides a potentially significant piece of evidence in the dispute, although the full circumstances surrounding the exchange and the authenticity and context of the recording would require independent verification.
There is also reportedly CCTV footage from cameras installed at the residence which may shed further light on the sequence of events, particularly the movements leading to the confrontation.
The controversy reportedly deepened after Arc. Suleiman allegedly published his own account of the incident on social media around midnight. The post was said to have been deleted later that morning, with the eyewitness claiming that it was no longer available by about 10 a.m.
A voice recording in which Arc. Suleiman reportedly gave his version of events was subsequently encountered by the eyewitness.
At the centre of the dispute is a relatively straightforward question: whether Mrs Kasim’s objection to access to the master bedroom was respected after she had expressly identified the space as private.
What began as a reported disagreement over access to a bedroom has therefore developed into allegations involving insults, threats, competing accounts and potentially relevant audio and CCTV evidence.
Arc. Suleiman has not, in the account available, been given an opportunity to publicly respond to all the allegations. His response, together with any independent review of the reported recording and CCTV footage, would be important in establishing the full circumstances surrounding the dispute.