‘I heard gunshot but didn’t know I was shot’
As I was picking the papers, I heard a
gunshot and someone shouted ‘give me the money’. I did not even know I
was the one who was shot since I did not feel anything.”
These were the words of Victor Ahiuma-Young, Vanguard‘s
Assistant Labour Editor, who relived yesterday, on his hospital bed,
how he was attacked by robbers on Tuesday at Sadiku Busstop, Ilasamaja
on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
He said he never knew he was shot until
blood started gushing out of his body, adding that he just left Eco Bank
where he withdrew some money when he incident occurred.
Speaking with The Nation at the
Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), where he was transferred to
after 13 pellets were removed from his body at May Clinic in Ilasamaja,
Ahiuma-young said despite his cries for help while staggering to the
clinic, nobody came to his aid.
HE decried the high robbery rate in the area, calling on the police to ensure the perpetrators are apprehended and prosecuted.
The reporter said: “I left Eco Bank and
walked for about a minute or two to a vendor’s stand to get newspapers.
It was between 10am and 10:15am. As I was picking the papers, I heard a
gunshot. I turned to know what was happening and a guy holding a locally
made pistol shot me.
“It was at that point that I bent down,
picked a stone and hurled at him. I was about picking a second stone
when he shot me again.
“This time, the money I was carrying in a brown envelop fell and he took it and jumped on a waiting bike.
“I only realised I had been shot earlier
when I saw blood all over me. I was bleeding profusely. I was running
and shouting for help. I was saying I will fall, please help me but no
one answered me.
“I ran from the scene to the hospital,
which is less than five minutes. Thankfully, the doctors attended to me
and sent for my wife, who was at home (about 25 minutes walk from the
scene), to process police report.
“At the station, I learnt the policemen
kept dribbling my wife until I told her to call a colleague of mine who
contacted the Police Commissioner before the policemen could come to the
hospital for the report.
“It took them more than one hour and 30
minutes to come and process the report, I just thank God that the
doctors did not wait for them before administering first aid on me, else
it would have been something else.”
Asked if there was connivance between
his attackers and the bank, Ahiuma-Young said he doubted the possibility
since he has been using the bank for over five years.
“Normally I drive to the bank on my way
to work, but because of the frustrating traffic around the Mile2-Apapa
axis of the road, I changed my route and follow Ojuelegba instead.
“Because this has never happened to me
since I started using the bank and I have even made higher transactions,
I do not want to think there was connivance with the bank staff.
“However, there could be three
possibilities – maybe one of the criminals was in the bank to monitor
people making withdrawals and followed me out; or maybe they saw the
brown envelop on my hand and followed me; or they just hang around the
banks (Eco and Diamond) to attack anyone coming out.
“I don’t recognise my assailant but he’s
a small boy. He was wearing a faded Jeans and T-shirt and spoke very
well. He was confident and sounded educated. He had no mask on,”
Ahiuma-Young said.
Expressing fears that he may not be able
to use two of his fingers which pierced by bullets again, Ahiuma-Young
said he may undergo surgery.
He said: “Two of my fingers are
fractured. I cannot use them. At the moment, I am awaiting results of
scans although one of the doctors who attended to me said one of my
fingers was shattered and they had to stitch it.
“The second one, the bullet pierced
through to the other side, leaving a hole. Also, my thigh, close to my
testes was also stitched as that was where I was first shot.
“Thirteen pellets were removed from my
thigh. It is just the grace of God that kept me. The situation is quite
unfortunate. It appears we are under siege. Even motor park touts will
harass people.
“We live in fear in that neighbourhood.
People have been complaining about robbery and cult activities but I
never knew it was so pronounced that in the full glare of all, at a busy
bus stop like that, I would be shot and robbed.”
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