Time, it is said, heals the wound. And so, softly and steadily, the victims of the Kaduna Easter day bombing are recuperating fast from injuries sustained in the heinous bomb blast which occurred many days ago.
The matron in charge of Barau Dikko Specialists Hospital, Kaduna, Hassana Isah Garba told the reporter: “The victims are responding to treatment, though three died here.”
Also, Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Saint Gerald Catholic Hospital, Sunday John Ali said officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), International Red Cross, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), and certain officials of the state government have visited the victims in the hospital.
Ali noted that the visit has shown that government and non-governmental organizations were really concerned about the wellbeing of the victims, adding that this would definitely boost the spirit of the victims to recover fast.
However, the big question on the lips of several sympathizers is that, can time also heal the shock, stigma, scar and mental torture that the bomb had subjected the victims to?
For Abubakar Garba, a victim who trades in dabino (date palm), time might not heal both the physical and psychological torture that the blast had subjected him to. He told the reporter: “The bomb lifted me high into the air, and I saw my hand cut off.” But in spite of his hand that was chopped off, Garba is currently recovering fast on his hospital bed at Saint Gerald Catholic Hospital, Kaduna.
Another victim, Nura Gwarno, a 400-level student of Bayero University, Kano (BUK) is receiving medical treatment at Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital, Kaduna.
Gwarno, a student in the Mechanical Engineering Department said he came to Kaduna from Kano to operate a commercial motorbike to enable him make some income since he was on a three-month break.
Garba told the reporter how he got involved in the crash. He recounted his experience of the blast. Hear him: “I do sell dabino (dates palm) for a living. I have been into the business for some time now. On that fateful day, all of a sudden, I heard a very loud sound and I only saw myself been lifted high into the sky with my wheel barrow with which I carry my dates. After that, all I could remember was that, I saw my hand being cut off.
“I was then taken to this hospital (St. Gerald Catholic Hospital). And since then people, sympathizers have been coming to commiserate with us. I must say we are earnestly grateful for their visit and support. We are also grateful to the state governor, Sir. Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa for his kind gesture towards us the victims of the bomb blast.
“I also pray that those that are bent on bringing this calamity on us in the north and throughout Nigeria will have a rethink. I pray that their sins will reveal them. I am also urging the good people of the north to please, without wasting time, take a very useful stand on how to end this menace. Because if they allow it to go beyond this level, at a point it would go beyond the level of killing and maiming those of us that are poor to killing even the rich ones too.
“It is only us the poor masses that are often at the receiving end. We are being killed, butchered and forgotten. However, we pray that Almighty God should forgive those behind these animalistic acts. In addition, God should continue to bless us as those behind these acts would surely receive God’s wrath.”
Gwarno also told the reporter his story. His words: “I am a 400 level student of Bayero University Kano in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. I do come here to do okada business whenever I am on vacation. That is why I am not a registered member of the okada riders association yet.
“I have just finished my Industrial attachment and I am on a three-month break now. That is why I choose to come here and do this okada business so that I can get some little savings before school resumes. I just dropped a passenger shortly before the blast. I only heard a loud noise and all I could recall was that I finally saw myself on this hospital bed.”
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State government said it has taken covert and overt security measures to checkmate the recurring bomb blasts in the state.
In an official statement days after the Easter bomb blast in the state, Acting Governor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero told newsmen that the measures were aimed at securing lives and property of innocent citizen in the state.
Yero urged residents to report any strange persons, objects or suspicious groups or situations that could breach the peace in the state to the security agencies to avert anything untoward. He also condoled with the families of the bereaved and other victims of the Sunday bomb blast.
The acting governor assured the people that the state government would settle all the medical expenses of the injured and provide palliative measures to those that lost their property during the attack.
“The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the Ministry of Health are on top of the situation through the provision of relief materials to the victims of the blast,” he added.
culled from sun
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