How 2 wild dogs attacked a 4yr old, ripped skull open
When Mrs. Odia left her three children at home to buy biscuit for them in their neighborhood, little did she know that she would come back to meet the worst horror of her life. She returned to meet a crowd in front of her compound yelling for help but no help was coming. She could […]
When Mrs. Odia left her three children at home to buy biscuit for them in their neighborhood, little did she know that she would come back to meet the worst horror of her life.
She returned to meet a crowd in front of her compound yelling for help but no help was coming. She could hear the screaming of her son from inside the house.
Mrs. Odia’s other two sons aged seven and five now outside with the crowed of neighbours told her how two dogs owned by a relative of the house chased them into the house while they were playing. The two jumped down from the first floor of the storey building but the third, four year old Omonigho couldn’t leap along.
The two fiery dogs attacked and feasted on the skull of hapless Omonigho. The dog were so fearsome, neighbours didn’t dare to rescue him. Not even the police came to his rescue when they came.
Eye witnesses say the dogs had a field day howling and chewing on the four year old boy for over an hour and was only rescued by his mother and rushed to a nearby hospital where they were rejected and referred to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital. The injuries were apparently too severe for them to handle.
The name of the victim Omonigho in their dialect means ‘a child is more precious than money’.
Parents of Omonigho, Mr and Mrs. Abraham Odia hail from the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. They share a residence with four other tenants at and three dogs Adegboyega Street, Akesan Estate in the Igando area of Lagos state, the commercial nerve center of Nigeria.
The owner of the dogs who is a brother to the landlord wasn’t around at the time the incident Daily Trust learnt.
In an interview, Mr Odia said the dogs had always constituted a nuisance in the compound and tenants have always reported and complained to the owner of the dogs who always told them to live with the dog or move out of the house.
On reaching the hospital, the boy was given first aid treatment. He was unconscious for three days.
Elder brother to Omonigho, seven year old Osemudiamen narrated that they were taking turns to ride a bicycle while their mum was out to buy them biscuits when the dogs attacked from nowhere and started chasing them. Two of the three dogs attacked the kids.
“We were riding our bicycles when Gadaffi and Jack (names of the dogs) started backing at us and running toward us. We ran upstairs and locked the door but Omonigho was left outside with them and he started banging on the door for help so we opened the door only for the dogs to come inside the house too. I and Bobby (five years old) jumped down but Omonigho could not and that was when the dogs attacked him and dragged him into the house. We only heard him screaming for help and we started screaming too before neighbours and other people from outside the compound came to see how they could help but there was nothing they could do as everyone was just shouting till our mum came back.”
Mrs. Odia narrating her story said: “I was not in the house but returned to meet a large crowd in from of the house. I heard my son screaming and saw the dogs coming out on the balcony with blood stained mouths, growling and going back inside apparently to have another bite before coming out to the balcony again. I was rushing in when people stopped me and told me that they had already called the police. The policemen came and stood outside saying that it was too dangerous for anyone to go near the dogs. They said the dogs were too wild and that they were not the ones to die. I was shocked and I asked myself if as a mother I should stand and watch my son being eaten to death by two wild dogs. So I dammed all consequences and fought my way into the house shouting. The dogs were growling at me but I had to save my child. I tried to pick him up and they wanted to attack, I called the name of God and fought my way with the dogs to get my son. Immediately I picked my son, I started running and headed for the nearest motorcycle I could see who took me to the nearest hospital that rejected me because of the kind of emergency case we had. They referred me to Lagos State University Teaching hospital. When we arrived there my son was already in a comma. He was immediately admitted and given first aid treatment.”
Having spent almost a month in the hospital, Mr odia who was away when the incident happened sought public assistance to save his son’s life even though the Lagos state government had taken responsibility for his treatment. “I had to take my plight to the media because even though the Lagos state government had said they will take responsibility for the boy but to my surprise I was still being asked to bring money for medications.
For weeks now, there has been war of words between the parents of the boy and the authorities of the hospital.
At the time of filing this report, an Egyptian hospital had indicated interest in carrying out a surgery on the Omonigho for free including medical costs.