- Her kidneys also failing, needs urgent help – Doctors
The recent case of Miss Joy Akatugba brings back the memory of the “unknown soldier” saga narrated by the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti in his song of the same title released in the late 1970s.
But unlike the maverick Fela, who incurred the wrath of the soldiers for his virulent criticism of the then Federal Military Government, led by then General Olusegun Obasanjo and General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, Akatugba was allegedly beaten up by some unidentified soldiers in Warri, Delta State, in circumstances that remain shrouded even to the victim.
I don’t know how I got here. Some people brought me here and they have been taking care of all my bills and feeding since they brought me here. Some soldiers beat me up, broke my leg and left me to die by the NPA Express way. I don’t know what I did
According to the woman, the unidentified soldiers, after severely beating her up, fractured her left leg and left her to die on the NPA Express road, Warri, Delta State, for reasons that she had yet to understand.
And now, for her to live, the victim, who has already been diagnosed with failing kidney, will also have to lose her fractured leg as doctors have recommended that it has to be amputated.
She said it took the goodwill of some public-spirited persons, who came to her rescue and took her to the Warri Central Hospital for medical care, for her to have survived the alleged beating by the unidentified soldiers.
Our correspondent, who spoke to the woman at the Emergency Ward of the hospital, observed that one of her legs was heavily bandaged while the rest of her body was covered with bruises.
When asked how she got to the hospital, she said, “I don’t know how I got here. Some people brought me here and they have been taking care of all my bills and feeding since they brought me here. Some soldiers beat me up, broke my leg and left me to die by the NPA Express way. I don’t know what I did that made them beat me up.”
With tears rolling down her cheeks, Akatugba said all she wanted was for her broken leg to heal up so that she could go back to her normal life again and start a trade to take care of herself.
She appealed to the federal and state governments and other well-meaning Nigerians to come to her aid to enable doctors to perform an operation on her damaged leg, which, according to one of the nurses taking care of her, needed to be amputated.
She said she had no family members to turn to for help, adding that all her relations had abandoned her to die.
The woman said none of her relations knew that she was admitted in the hospital because she had no means of informing them about her plight.
The victim, who gave the name of her elder sister as Mrs. Ovigwe Dadi, and that of her elder brother as Mr. Blessing Akatugba, said all her siblings were living in Sapele Local Government Area of the state.
Pastor Festus Feg of Christ Work Church, Warri, who brought the lady to the hospital, told our correspondent that as a member of a non-governmental organisation called ‘Motion Afrik,’ he was told to come to the rescue of a certain lady that was battered and left on the road to die.
He said before he was called to take her to the hospital, another member of the group from the Christ Embassy Church had already made arrangements for the victim to be given medical attention, adding that all that he did was to mobilise people who could help him take her into the waiting ambulance.
“When I got to where the lady was lying unconsciously on the ground, we did everything we could to get her into the ambulance because she was half dead. But before we left, the police were involved and were aware of our activities. Her condition at that moment was terrible because she was already fighting for her life,” Pastor Feg said.
He said that from the little the victim told them, they were able to get the phone number of one of her sisters who, according to him, did not show any concern about the plight of her sister.
“We managed to get the phone number of one of her sisters, but the response she gave us was not encouraging at all. She told us that the family had nothing to do with the lady and that we should leave her to die or do whatever we wanted to do for her,” he added.
A board member of the NGO, Mrs. Elizabeth Dada, who also spoke to our correspondent, appealed to the general public to intervene in the matter and save the seriously ill lady.
Dada said, “This morning, the doctor said the lady needed to be referred to the Oghara Teaching Hospital, Delta State, because her organs were failing. The referral is ready and is on the table right now. Because we are an NGO, we do not have enough money to cater for her bills as we have already spent a lot here.
“Since the family has rejected her, we are calling on the government to step in and save a soul. The doctor told me that her kidneys were failing; she had tuberculosis and that she also needed an orthopaedic surgeon to amputate her leg. At this stage, we need the support of the masses, government, private individuals, NGOs, and well-meaning Nigerians so that this lady can be on her feet again.”
Efforts by our correspondent to speak with the authorities of the 3 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Warri, on the vicitm’s claim of alleged assault by some unidentified soldiers proved abortive.
Officers at the military formation declined to comment on the matter, claiming that they lacked the mandate to speak for the battalion.
