Tragic loss, as five family members die in auto crash

Our correspondent learnt that the family had travelled to their home town, Gwoza where their elder sister Hafsat, who lost her husband was observing the mourning period. Her three children – Ahmed, Aisha and Zainab also went along. Dunoma, her younger brother, drove the car while other cousins and an in-law joined to accompany them […]

Our correspondent learnt that the family had travelled to their home town, Gwoza where their elder sister Hafsat, who lost her husband was observing the mourning period. Her three children – Ahmed, Aisha and Zainab also went along. Dunoma, her younger brother, drove the car while other cousins and an in-law joined to accompany them back home.

Their burial was conducted the same day according to Islamic rites and their remains laid to rest in their home town Gwoza. All the casualties were first conveyed to the home of the family head and former Nigerian Ambassador to Pakistan, Ambassador Mahmud Ahmad.

When our correspondent visited the Gwange ward residence of Ambassador Ahmad, friends, family and sympathizers were trooping in to commiserate with the family. He told our reporter that the sight of the accident would frighten anyone. “The impact of the collision was such that the vehicle got entangled around a tree after smashing into it. Five of them died on the spot,” he said.

Sunday Trust gathered that seven days after, one of the victims is slowly recovering from a coma. She is yet to utter a single word, but her limbs are beginning to respond with slight movements.
It was also gathered that one of the survivors, Aminu had multiple fractures and is responding to treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) while the others sustained minor bruises but were in a state of shock for days. It was learnt that seven days after the incident, some portions of Aminu’s fractured bone were discovered missing and the plastered limb had to be torn open and operated once again.

Sixteen year old Dahiru Abubakar is a nephew to late Hafsat. He was one of the five persons who survived the tragedy and told our correspondent that he decided to spend Sallah with other family members in Gwoza after he was mandated by his mother to convey Sallah clothing to his cousins, whose upkeep was now the responsibility of his mother, after the death of their mother.
“Already, late Hafsat, who is my aunt too, and her three children, were observing the mourning and holiday respectively and had spent about two months.

The day we were to leave for Maiduguri, it appeared as if we knew something was amiss. We all broke down sobbed as we departed Gwoza. Those who were there were surprised but we all cried – our grandparents and all of us, probably because we were going to be separated or that we knew something tragic was going to happen and some of us were not coming back alive. But something was surely wrong but we didn’t know and as they walked us to the car and bade us goodbye, the sobbing increased. But we didn’t know it was going to be the last for some of us.”
Eventually, late Hafsat was said to have pleaded with her grandmother to provide her with a family member to accompany and stay with her for sometime, as she cannot cope alone at her residence in the outskirt of Maiduguri metropolis alone with the kids.

The grand mother wanted to accompany her, but because she too was ill, an in-law who is now in coma for the past seven days was eventually asked to go and stay with her for some time.
So, they all took their baths and ate breakfast. Just as they were about to board the vehicle, which belonged to their uncle, late Dunoma Dahiru Abba, who drove the car, an encounter ensued between the two children, their grandparents as well as their grandchildren.
Their grandmother suddenly became unhappy and complained of loneliness. Late Hafsat started crying. Dahiru, who was named after his grandfather and all the others joined too. “We cried and went towards our grandfather and he asked us why we were all crying. My aunt, Hafsat replied and said maybe he is going to miss me. But my grandmother said to her, are you people not travelling together anymore?”, junior Dahiru told our correspondent.
As the grandparents prayed for their grandchildren as well as their son and daughter, they never knew it was the last time they were ever going to see their children and some of their grandchildren alive.

They set off and on their way they had a stop over at Pulka, a nearby town because their uncle’s wife, who was going to live with their, aunt Hafsat for a while was nauseating. She complained that she was inhaling petrol fumes and eventually vomited in the car.
It was learnt that as they started off again, uncle Dunoma (the driver and owner of the car) did not notice that a  bus was on coming from behind as he tried to go back on to the road. The driver cautioned him to drive carefully.

“We had arrived at Dalori near Maiduguri around 10 o’clock in the morning. Aunt Hafsat was seated in the back seat with her children. I was in the front seat beside late uncle Dunoma along with Ahmed (bobbo) and Oga. I could see that he was over speeding and was trying to overtake a vehicle. Unknown to him, there was a pot hole on his path and he drove into it. I think the steering wheel must have locked up because afterwards, he was unable to control and steer the wheel again. The car veered off the road and rammed into the trunk of a tree and it somersaulted a couple of times.

“After the first somersault, I was thrown out of the vehicle and found myself on a tree branch. That was how I sustained the injury on my shoulder. I watched as the vehicle kept somersaulting until it eventually stopped after ramming into another tree. Some good Samaritans came to our rescue afterward,” 16-year-old Dahiru narrated.
Coincidentally, the bus driver, who had cautioned them, as they left Pulka was the one who came to their rescue and conveyed them to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital after the accident.

Our correspondent learnt that late Hafsat’s husband, Goni Likita had died about five weeks ago from a prolonged terminal ailment.
According to Maryam, Hafsat’s childhood friend described her as a friendly and homely housewife who wanted the best for her friends and family. Her dream was to nurture her three children to become good and right thinking members of the society.

Maryam said the 31-year-old widow spent about 45 days in Gwoza to observe the period of mourning for the death of her husband as prescribed in Islam. Since her children had resumed school (in Maiduguri) the previous day, she was coming back with them to resume school.
Hafsat’s dreams were short-lived as it eventually happened that she along with her seven year old Aisha and three and half year old Zainab, along with herself were killed in the accident. Only her first child, nine year old Ahmed was said to have survived the tragic incident. He too was in shock for two days, though he did not sustain any external injury.