From Tunde Rahman, Lokoja
No doubt, November 16, 2019 will go down in the life of Miss Deborah Omoba as a traumatic day for the 23 year old lady as it was on this day she was hit by bullets from a helicopter which hovered around major towns in Kogi state ostensibly monitoring the highly controversial Kogi guber and Kogi west senatorial return elections.
News Hub Mag! recalls that a total of 10 persons were said to have been killed in the election. Miss Omoba. The medium also recalls that no fewer than four people were reportedly killed when the helicopter allegedly released some gunshots and teargas on voters on queue specifically in areas suspected to be strong holds of the opposition party during the election.
News Hub Mag! reports that the young innocent lady is currently fighting for her life at the Federal Medical Centre Lokoja with the bullet still lodged in her body.
Recounting how the ugly incident happened News Hub Mag! gathered that the victim was sleeping at the pastorium of the Apostolic Church Headquarters, Ajara quarters, Lokoja when the bullet released from the helicopter which had hovered round the compound few seconds earlier pierced through her body and lodged at the upper region of her thigh very close to her private part.
Conducting journalists round the scene of the incident on Wednesday, the pastor in charge of the church, Abraham Olusegun said the victim who is a daughter of one of the Overseers of the church was observing her siesta on that fateful election day when she suddenly screamed from her sleep.
“Immediately they rushed into the room, they found the girl writhing in a pool of her own blood with the upper region of the thigh, very close to the vagina badly battered”, he said.
Pastor Olusegun who said the victim was immediately rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja also narrated how the church was viciously attacked during the last general election, a development which he said gripped him and his family members with morbid fear as the police and other security agencies did nothing even when the case was reported to them.
When our correspondent visited the female surgical ward where the victim was admitted, she was lying on the bed with a forlorn look on her closed eyes.
When asked to relate what actually happened to her, she faintly opened her eyes, struggled to utter some inaudible words before the matron in charge of the ward shoved off the reporter.
However, speaking with our correspondent, the head of clinical services in the Medical Centre, Dr Taiwo Jones said the pellet was lodged at a very sensitive part of the victim’s body which makes the extraction at the moment very difficult.
He said whenever a bullet was lodged at a very sensitive area of the body that could cause more damage, the best thing to do was to leave it for sometime and allow the body system to react and push the bullet to the surface which will make it easier to be removed by surgery.
According to him, the victim is now in a stable condition as all necessary medications and treatment have been carried out on her.
Dr Jones however explained that the said helicopter also released some shots on the premises of the hospital which made everyone to scamper for safety.
According to him it was Providence that saved staff and patients of the medical center as a live bullet was recovered at the consultant’s office while another live bullet was recovered at the hospital library.
He said the corps member attached to the library had to run away from her house because of sporadic gunshots on the hospital, only for her to narrowly escape being hit again by some bullet right in her office.
He said when the management of the medical center reported the incident to the police with the live bullets, it was discovered that the bullets used by the helicopter were more deadly and bigger than that of the Ak47 rifle.
When contacted for his reaction over the incident, the police commissioner, Hakeem Busari feigned ignorance of any helicopter releasing tear gas or gunshots on the election day asking, “how can it happen when we are not in a war situation?”
Well, for victims of the last elections, the CP has only helped to give voice to their unanswered questions, whether the relevant authorities will do the needful is the next unanswered question.
