Life has become unbearable and suicide has begun to creep into the mind of a vigilante officer in Kogi State, Musa Muhammed who got sacked from his house by the 2022 Kogi flood, and later lost his wife to a gas explosion.
Muhammad who also does Okada business on the side, said n an interview that his family fell in the first batch of victims sacked by the flood in their rented apartment in Adankolo, Lokoja.
According to him, he had just renewed his rent with his savings when the flood displaced his family, and he had to source for a bailout to get a safer place for his family.
Unfortunately, the safer place he got was where he lost his wife. In his words, “it is just like from frying pan to fire.”
“Unfortunately, after moving into our new apartment, my wife and I never knew that there was a leakage in our cooking gas. She wanted to cook that unfaithful day, she lit the gas and it exploded. My wife was burnt beyond recognition, two of my kids were also burnt, including me. But mine wasn’t severe compared to that of my wife.
“Immediately, people in the neighborhood rushed all of us to the hospital. I wasn’t bothered about my own pains, but that of my family. When they took us to the hospital, the Federal Medical Center, Lokoja requested for N1.7m to embark on surgery for my wife. I became confused because in my entire life, I have not touched N200,000 talk more of N1.7m.
“I started calling for help from different places. Just because I want to save my wife’s life, the bike I bought not up to a month for N350,000, I sold it for N100,000 just to raise money. Some people came to my aid to raise up to N700,000. Unfortunately, my wife still died because we couldn’t raise the complete money for the surgery. Thank God, my two kids are getting better from the burns. I feel like committing suicide because I have lost everything,” he lamented.
He is left with two kids and an aged mother to cater for.
On his present state of affairs, he said he has lost everything and could no longer cater for his children’s welfare and education.
“Since my wife died, it is as if my life is completely ruined. If someone had told me this would happen to me this year, I wouldn’t believe it. I have been wearing one piece of clothing for several weeks because I lost all my possessions. I don’t have any home of my own, so I have to join other flood affected victims at the Adankolo IDPs camp.
“I am feeding from hand to mouth, with nobody willing to help me. School is in secession right now, my kids can no longer go to school because I don’t have money to buy them new uniforms, pay their school fees and even buy them writing materials since we have lost everything to the gas explosion.“
He appealed to Nigerians to come to his aid, as he does not want to engage in crime to fend for his family.
“I don’t want to steal or engage in any criminal activity. Just like I said earlier, I have been wearing one piece of clothing for several weeks. I don’t have anything again. They should help me with assistance such as clothes, money and accommodation so that I can start my life all over again. The death of my wife is making me go crazy. I am currently suffering from depression. Nigerians should help me so that I won’t die. If anything happens to me, just as it has happened to my wife, my kids will suffer.”
