Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Why am i still alive?

Mrs Dike, shortly after the explosions in 2011. file photo)ABOUT 18 months after the agents of death struck via bomb blasts in a church, Mrs Chioma Dike is still wondering what hit her: She lost her husband and three of her five children that dark Sunday morning. The lives of her two remaining children are still hanging in the balance.

The Dikes were victims of the bomb explosions that rocked the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madallah, Suleja Local Government area of Niger State on December 25, 2011.

At least 37 persons were reported to have died and 57 injured when an explosives-laden car in the church blew up. A fundamentalist Islamic sect, Boko Haram, later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Mrs Dike has since been a living corpse, with only a thin will to stay alive. The only redeeming feature is mother’s instincts which have kept her running from pillar to post to keep her  remaining two children alive. To date, shrapnel is still locked near the skull of one of the surviving children while the other child is nursing injuries in the lower part of her body and needs surgery.

When the Nigerian Compass met her at the weekend, Mrs Dike presented the picture of one who was midway between life and death; and between heaven and hell.
She told the Nigerian Compass that life has since been meaningless to her.

She has received some forms of assistance from the governments of Niger and Akwa Ibom states and some kind donors, for which she is grateful. The heavy losses have, however, made her despondent.

She told the Nigerian Compass: “I sincerely acknowledge the support given to me by governments of Niger and Akwa  Ibom states as well as other public spirited individuals and organizations over my travail. But, deep inside me nothing can quantify my loss as I miss my husband and three children on a daily basis. 

If I am not a Christian and for the sake of my surviving two children who are still undergoing medical treatments, I would have wished I am dead by now as I always feel  that I no longer have anything worth living for.”

Mrs. Dike who wept throughout the brief interview further disclosed that she is currently overwhelmed by the medical bills in the course of treating her two surviving children. She therefore cried out for financial assistance from the Government and other well-meaning individuals so that her joy over the survival of the children will not be short-lived.

She said: “Things have not been easy as I have been battling to ensure that one of the children who is still has something like a nail buried in his skull is operated upon because of the huge amount of money involved. My other child, a girl, is also nursing injury on the lower part of her body and she also needs to be operated upon.

Meanwhile, the Parish Priest of St. Theresa Catholic Church, Most Reverend Father Raphael Imelo. has commended Governments at different levels for doing their level best for bomb blast victimsand their relations. He, however, appealed to the authorities to do more in rendering assistance to the people.

The Clergy man decried the multiple bomb blasts at Suleja and Madalla in the recent past. He told the Nigerian Compass that one of the victims who was into Chemical works before the bomb attack, could no longer walk for five minutes at a stretch or work as a normal human being again.

“There is a victim of the bomb blast at the church who has accumulated a medical bill of about N300,000, while another one is undergoing skin grafting in a hospital and every one of them who are parishioners at the Church are now dependent on the Church leadership for survival,” the cleric said.

He added: “It is a very big challenge. In fact, some of the victims are still carrying shrapnel in their bodies and these things need to be medically corrected.

He noted that governments at different levels have done very well by taking care of some of these people and providing for their needs and that of the church too at that material time.

He, however, said that "we still need more help, especially for those who are still undergoing treatment at hospitals, adding: “It was only last week that I got to know that someone had been billed N300, 000 for a surgery that is going to cost him well over N300, 000 and the person does not have that kind of money" .

The Reverend Father disclosed that there some of the victims were still at the Church premises  from where they go for routine medical check-ups to ensure that they are properly rehabilitated.

“We have some who cannot even walk,” he said.

He lauded governments at different levels for doing their best at the period by coming to the aid of the church, its members and property owners in the neighbourhood  communities who were affected by the explosions.

He added: "We still feel that the Governments can go further and do something for us because up till now we are still trying to put the pieces of our lives together as peace loving and patriotic citizens, against the backdrop of the unprovoked attacks on the church and its congregation by the terrorist group code named the “Boko Haram sect
COMPASS

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