A distraught widow whose husband and daughter were killed by bandits in an attack in a community in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau State has narrated how they bled and died in her arms, as they could not be rushed to the village clinic, after the bandits also burned down the facility.
The widow narrated her harrowing experience to conflict journalist, Masara Kim Usman, saying on the day the bandits attacked their community, they had surrounded the whole village and gone from house to house killing people.
She recalled that the bandits made it impossible for the injured to be taken to the community clinic or hospitals outside the village as they had cordoned off the town and threatened to kill anyone who dared them.
In her narration, the distraught widow said: “On that sorrowful day, I went to the market and left my husband and children at home. I believe it was God who said that day was not the day I would die. Even that day, the terrorists had blocked the road and were shooting sporadically.
“In the vehicle I was inside, I could not raise my head as I feared the bullets could hit me. I just buried my head, and when we passed the area, I asked a fellow passenger what was happening, and she told me that they were the ‘men in black’ who were shooting.
“We did not even know that by that time, they had surrounded our community. There was nothing we could do. It was God who performed his miracle. Today, my husband and daughter are no more.
“They were killed in cold blood by the Fulani bandits who attacked our community. My daughter was shot in my presence and her blood was all over me. But I thank God that I am alive today.
“But what still surprises me till today is that we saw a ‘black day,’ but God, who is the only one that can calm us down, has been able to comfort us.
“I thank God that I’m alive today and I also implore the orphans and widows to take solace in God. When the bandits invaded our village, they surrounded everywhere, broke down people’s houses.
“When they broke into our house, they shot my husband and daughter. They did not say a word; they just shot my husband and daughter. As I held them in my hands, their blood was all over me.
“There was no way we could take them to the hospital because they had taken over the community and had even burned down our village clinic.
“My daughter was saying we should take them to the hospital, but there was no way because they had blocked all the roads, and there was no way we could take them to the hospital. That was how my husband and daughter died in my arms…” She broke down in tears as she could no longer continue.
