Tragedy: How stray bullet nearly sent mother of 9 to early grave

…Family in fear of the unknown over sudden incident
…We’re investigating incident- Security personnel
Tragedy struck in Kano as yet-to-be identified persons fired live ammunition into the family compound of Mallam Abudullahi of Brigade Quarters of Kano.

Not knowing what to expect, Hajiya Rakiya, a housewife and mother of nine, woke up on Saturday, October 27, 2018 to begin her daily routine of house chores, but never did she know that she would be fighting for her life on that same day.

Between the hours of 7 and 8am, Rakiya was in the compound trying to fetch water when from nowhere, a stray bullet hit her and without delay, blood started gushing out from the affected spot while she collapsed in the process.

With the trauma and confusion within the family at that instance, the mother of the house screamed for help as the sight of the gushing blood is better imagined than said.

Doctors at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) were able to stop the bleeding after administering first aid but decided not to continue further treatment till the family provides a police report despite the 2017 Gunshot Act that permits doctors to treat gunshot victims.

It took the intervention of The Daily Times correspondent whose attention was drawn to the matter, who engaged the doctors at the AKTH Accident and Emergency Unit on the need to attend to the woman based on the 2017 Act, and after much heated discussion, the woman who was left unattended to, for more than 5 hours, was eventually admitted for treatment.

Investigation has revealed that most doctors at the hospital are sceptical about handling such cases despite the law permitting treatment. This prompted for further investigation.

A visit to the hospital’s Information Department revealed that no one at the department nor the doctors at the Emergency Unit have a copy of the said act, so it was hard to tell if any of them has even read it as it concerns their job.

It took doctors four more days to finally remove the bullet after different opinions to remove the bullet or allow the wounds to heal and allow it to push out the bullet lodged in her flesh.

Although the family feel relieved after the successful surgery, but their fear of the unknown remains as the police are yet to unravel the circumstances surrounding the shooting.

Confirming the incident, the Kano State Police spokesman, SP Musa Majia, said the matter has been reported to the police and investigation has commenced.

The Daily Times recalls that such cases were recently recorded in the state where stray bullets struck different individuals right in their rooms with this latest one generating concern over such reckless use of arms by security personnel and the availability of illegal arms in some quarters of the society.

Rakiya was lucky to have survived, but who knows who will be next and what would be that person’s fate? If people are not longer safe and have to fear for their lives while at home, it means the authorities have to review how arms are being used.

As at the time of filling this report, the family of Abdullahi were left with the bullet removed from the mother of the house which makes one to wonder if police are really interested in the available evidence at hand.