Fifty six-year-old Umar Abdullahi Bojinji, a firewood seller in Bauchi, last Friday lost his eyes and teeth to suspected ritualists, who inflicted serious injuries on him after removing the vital parts. NAJIB SANI, reports
When Umar Abdullahi Bojinji, 56, went into his village jungle in Bauchi Local Governmet of Bauchi State on January 13, this year, he did so with the usual confidence, enthusiasm and sense of safety, having been tapping virtually all his daily needs from the forest without any form of molestation since he became a man.
As he dashed into the woodland, armed with his sharp machete, he did not suspect that any form of harm was awaiting him. Neither did the father of 13, whom many in his community see as a peaceful man, harbour any fear that his life was in peril, as he sauntered into the woodland that has always provided a means of living for him and his large family.
He was very familiar with the forest just as the plants and animals there understood him. He was a frequent visitor to the farmland and he could always call at short notice to pick up firewood and other provisions that abound therein.
However, as he came into the forest that Friday afternoon, the forces of evil were already waiting to devour him. They had laid wait for him and prayed for him to enter the unholy trap they had set for him. And that he did and had his fingers burnt.
In a forest that he understood like the palms of his hands, Bojinji, went straight to do what he knows best-cutting dried logs for firewood. As he began to cut the logs into the shape that his clients preferred, his attackers, who had been lying in wait for him, suddenly showed up.
The attackers, who were many in number, came forward, greeted Bojinji and exchanged some greetings with him. They went further to survey the vast woodland to ensure that their wicked mission would not be aborted.
Convinced that they were not under the prying eyes of anyone who could spill the beans for them, the wicked men moved closer to Bojinji, who had by this time completed his cutting work and was ready to pack his bundle of fire wood and go home.
Unknown to the victim, the men actually wanted to dismember him than render any form of help to him. As the man lifted the bundle of firewood to his head, his assailants moved towards him, aimed at his neck and unleashed several machete cuts on him and the man passed out.
When the men, suspected to be ritualists saw that their target was almost dead, they crudely confiscated his eyes and teeth and disappeared. Bojinji screamed, rolled and fainted all in his own blood. His attackers had disappeared into the thin air.
Bojinji, whose 13 children and family members were waiting for his return from the forest, were taken aback when he did not return after more than four hours. It was unsual for him to stay out for so many hours.
That sent them combing the forest to know what could have happened to their breadwinner. As they moved towards the woodland, they began to hear shrill cry of their loved one and their anger began to flare.
Before long, they came face to face with their calamity that had befallen them: the man who had gone in search of firewood so as to continue to put bread on their table was soaked in his own blood with a distorted dentition, bereft of both eyes and almost lifeless.
He was groaning with the little breath left in him but there was no one to help.
Narrating his ordeal from his bed at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital [ATBUTH] Bauchi, the Bojinji, said he was overpowered by the attackers suspected to be ritualists, as he was cutting firewood in the forest.
“As I turned to go, they suddenly started hitting my neck with cutlasses and eventually pushed me down and removed my two eyes and all my teeth. I became unconscious and later found myself in the Hospital,” he disclosed.
Yakubu Abdullahi, younger brother of the victim, accused some idle herdsmen, who have been hanging around the area, for the deadly assault on his brother.
“I strongly suspect that these are jobless persons who no longer have cattle a and they now resort to daylight terrorism. Their antic is that if you are in a group, they would allow you to pass but if they find you alone, they unleash terror on you by killing and maiming innocent persons, the man said.
Abdullahi pointed out that the development was likely to trigger a backlash unless security agencies took immediate steps to check the ugly trend.
“My brother is a peace-loving and simple man, who has never hurt a fly and we are deeply pained that he has been brutalised and left with devastating pains that won’t just go away in a hurry. This is most unfortunate and painful.
He is our breadwinner and we are at a loss as to what these wicked people stand to gain from inflicting a permanent injury to an innocent man who has not offended them in any way, the aggrieved man said.
The only consolation for the family is that the police have visited the scene of the incident and have promised to fish out the culprits by all means.
It is not yet clear when that promise will turn into reality, as none of the culprits have been nabbed.
The Police Public Relations Officer [PPRO], Mr. Muahammad Barau, says they are investigating the matter and that whoever is found to have taken part in the attack will face the full weight of the law.
As they await the police to fish out the culprits, Bojinji and his family continue to lick their wounds and the pains continue unabated.
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