Before a 2017 bloodbath that claimed 103 locals in Ndaba community, Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, 45-year-old Ali Jigila, was a known successful businessman, but things had gone south for him.
A gun wound he sustained had consumed savings and no one is passing the hard days with him. He is left to suffer.
“I passed through several hospitals, my money and everything I had has finished, my family members got tired of my condition, and everyone left me. The NGO that was supporting me with medical treatment left me too. I went from one hospital to another, and it exhausted my savings,” he told HumAngle.
Jigila recalled that the armed terror group, clad in Cameroonian military uniforms raided Ndaba, killed dozens and “this was our community’s worst nightmare,” he added.
Now disabled, Jigila recounted that they were assembled by the assailants and started firing gunshots sporadically. “Women, children, and elders were all among us. I thought I was dead because the bullets clouded us indiscriminately. I saw people crying in pain, and we were all helpless that day. A sharp pain struck me all over my body, and I couldn’t walk because of the bullets that pierced my leg”.
READ: Between Climate Crisis and Insurgency — Borno Farmers Suffer Untold Hardships
The 103 persons killed in the attack were offered mass burial, he revealed.
Ali Mohammed Ramat, the victim’s doctor, explained that Jigila’s health requires special medical care that is expensive. “Ali was a victim of gunshots, and there were bones lost and multiple fractures in his left thigh and hip”.
He said Jigila is undergoing a series of medical operations to elongate his leg’s bone and unite it, or he takes a risk of losing his leg.
Fortunate for Jigila, he is a beneficiary of Governor Babagana Umara Zulum’s Special Health Intervention Project (Z-SHIP) through the Borno State Contributory Health Management Agency (BOSCHMA). Despite that, the victim needs more hands to survive the risk of having an amputated leg as he also needs special care.
