Friends organise posthumous birthday for ex-PDP chair’s son

Family and friends on Thursday gathered at the Unity Fountain, Abuja to pay tributes to Bilyamin Bello, the son of a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party who was allegedly killed by his wife, Maryam.


Thursday would have been Bilyamin’s 36th birthday which was never to be.

While friends came out to read out tributes to the deceased, some rights groups also used the opportunity to campaign against domestic violence.

A friend of the deceased, Biliyaminu Aliyu, said if parents brought up their children in the right way, they would not be prone to violence.

Aliyu said he spoke to the deceased on the night he was murdered and he gave no clue that his life was being threatened.

He said, “A lot of parents have neglected our culture in the name of westernisation in the way we treat our children. If we have good upbringing, we will have good conscience.

“A person who is well brought-up will not hurt another person. Biliyamin was my very good friend. We met in Sokoto during our undergraduate days. He was three years ahead of me. He was the kind of person that didn’t worry too much about himself but always thought about others and their opinions.

“Even on the night he died, I called him round 9.20pm and honestly he didn’t tell me he had any problem because normally, he will not even tell you when he had problems. He cared about the problems of others. But I am glad he has gone to where there is no more pain.”

An activist, Ibrahim Usman, who is a friend of the deceased and a member of the BringBackOurGirls group, said he was shocked by the incident.

Usman said he also knew the alleged killer when she was at the University of Maiduguri and never knew she was capable of murder.

Usman, who was the organiser of the event, urged spouses to never tolerate domestic violence as it could lead to death.

Jemila Shehu, also a friend of Bilyamin, said, “There was love in their relationship but I don’t know what she was thinking. I don’t know what to think about her. For me, she should be punished because she committed murder. No one has the right to take another person’s life.”