At about 10pm, she heard a familiar voice at her door, saying he had a message from her boyfriend. Jamila, who suspects her boyfriend’s wife for her ordeal, said she recognised the voice as that of the wife’s brother and that was why she opened the door.
Her words:
“A minute to 10pm on Sunday, I was sleeping in my room when I heard a knock on my door. I didn’t recognise the voice immediately but now I am sure of the voice. He said my boyfriend sent him to give me a message.
“My boyfriend usually sends motorcycle operators to me so I assumed he was the one that sent this one and as I was trying to open the door, he poured the acid on my face. I rushed outside, I could not shout for about five minutes but when I started shouting, my neighbours gathered and washed my face with soap; they applied honey and pap to it before rushing me to the hospital.
“I suspect his wife sent someone to attack me, I did not know at first that he was married but when I realised it, I tried to cut him off. I only knew that he was married when his wife started sending me text messages, insulting and threatening me, I even told him that I was going to report her to the police but he asked me to leave her alone.
“I have reported to the Zuba police station and they said they will arrest my boyfriend, his wife and her brother.”
Jamila has also accused the management of the Kubwa General Hospital hospital of negligence. She said she is afraid of losing her sight.
“But this people here are not attending to me, I feel as if my condition is now worse, compared to when I came; I can no longer see well, the acid did not affect my eyeballs so I believe that when the swelling reduces, I will see again. But they are not attending to me, if they cannot treat me, they should refer me elsewhere, they should take care of me, I don’t want to lose my sight.
“Look at my face, I want to recover from this, the acid did not affect my eyeball, I can see the reflection of light from the windows, I just want the swelling to go down but I feel abandoned, they treat others and abandon me, if they cannot do it, they should refer me to another hospital. This thing was not like this when I came here; I am scared; I don’t want to rot here.”
Medical Director Dr. Amadu Danfulani said doctors have been treating her since she was admitted on Sunday.
“We have not neglected her, she is being treated; she was treated this morning and given her regular medication. She is in pains but we cannot give her an overdose of pain relief, we will till the appropriate time to give her the medication but she is in good hands and we are taking care of her.”
The doctor in charge of Jamila’s case, Dr Okuonghu Frank hoped that her sight will be better when the swelling reduces.
“Her fears of blindness are because of the swelling but once the swelling reduces, hopefully, she will see better. But that is not to say everything is okay because there are some follow-ups to do.
“She has the right to be scared but with adequate management, she will get better. Hers is different, she was not seriously burnt, it is superficial burns, her skin was not really burnt.” he said.
Jamila’s co-worker, Banji Johnson, described her as gentle and hard working.
“We have worked together for about a year and half, she is not troublesome, never quarrels with anyone, free and extremely hard-working so we were surprised at what happened to her. We mobilised ourselves to visit her as soon as we heard the news in the office.
We believe that with God, all things are possible and she will get better. We appeal to the hospital to take care of her.”
Jamila’s younger sister, Hassana confessed that she did not recognise her sister when she visited her at the hospital.
“We don’t stay together, my elder sister called me yesterday to say someone poured Jamila acid and when I came to check on her, I could not recognise her. Our father is dead but our mother is still alive and on her way here.”
The Nation
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