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Journalist Temitope Mustapha recounts how she miraculously survived after she was stoned by rampaging youths and was put in coma during Kaduna crisis

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Temitope Mustapha, a news editor with the Voice of Nigeria, has shared her near-death experience during the recent communal/religious crisis in Kaduna state.

In a post shared on her Facebook page, Temitope recounted how on October 21st, she was stoned intensely by rampaging youths during one of the crisis and she fell into coma. Many people have been killed as a result of the incessant clashes in Kaduna state. Read her account below

Passing through Kaduna State on Sunday 21st of October 2018, to connect to Kano State for a two day Media Dialogue on Equity for the Girl Child Education , I never thought would end up bloody for me..

About 4:35pm ,Two times this gentleman who was in thesame car with me woke me up and said “Madam stay awake” ,I replied him, see i had written stories previous nights before I embarked on this journey. Again this man woke me up and said “madam pls stay awake”.

Then I opened my sleepy eyes very wide
and clearly I saw Miltary officers seated on their vehicles. Suddenly, a fellow passenger like me said ” Madam we have been making calls to know the safest road” & I said you mean this road is safe for us all? They all answered Yes. Suddenly at Kaduna By- Pass,I saw a trailer blocking the road and traffic was building up and the driver of thesame car I boarded( public transport of ofcourse) beckoned on one of the youths holding a fibre of an iron, of course he responded in Hausa language & another passenger translated this to me that he wanted to find another route out of By- Pass.

Suddenly, a number of the young men sighted me in the car & my driver started pleading with them, telling them ” Da Allah ki ya kuri” ,I was the only female in the car and extremely unusual of me I wore what you saw in the pictures above with an headtie ( turban)that I had on me.

RACE OF MY LIFE
The youngmen best described as Micreants were more than fifteen,they started hitting the side of the car I was, Actually my head was blank, I couldn’t say one word of prayer, I didn’t panic and I was ready to run the race of my life.

Immediately my fellow passengers took to their heels from the front door and the left door side , then I summoned courage opened the right side door which was already confronted by men holding all manner of irons and stones. My turban ( headtie) fell off , And I started running towards an uncompleted building immediately I realised I could be finished in the building, With heavy stones landing on my back and long metallic objects hitting my body from people running after me ,I turned an thought of crossing the Gutters on Kaduna by – Pass.

O Yes I fell down with the heaviness & marathon of stones landing on my body then I watched myself being LYNCHED with all manners of iron rods, sticks and i was being stonned at thesame time.

Nobody dared stopped these youths from stonning me neither was I rescued from their hands.

I actually saw one of them videoing what they were doing to me & I sincerely was running within me to catch up with breathe. Death is Painful.

I suddenly didn’t not feel the hitting of the irons on my body again & the stones were no longer making sounds to me. I was hearing ,Jesus is Lord inside my Head clearly as if with a mega phone, I was seeing my mother’s,my Son & my daughter’s faces all at thesame time & some how I kept hearing in my head that all they were doing was not up to Labour Pains.

I crawled inside the Gutters ,of course I was already almost inside the Gutters by by-Pass. I felt peace in my body & I found solace inside the Gutters. I saw these youths gathered on the other side ,I blurringly saw a crowd of men watching me , And I saw clearly one of them carrying a stone with his two hands right over me, I raised up one hand pleading to him& making gestures appealing. That was the last I saw.

HEAVY SLEEP OVER POWERED ME
Heavy & Deep Sleep came over me inside the Gutters,the thing overpowered me & I watched my hand threw away, from this moment I didn’t know what happened again ,I cannot tell what,where & anything about me again. I don’t know what switched me off. I was completely switched off.

Till I woke up at AMRULLAH Hospital (also along Kaduna by-Pass )on a stretcher , I started talking telling them I am a Journalist with Voice of Nigeria and I was only passing by Kaduna State to attend a Media Dialogue in Kano State. I attempted standing from the stretcher my body didn’t respond. I was asked for phone numbers , Heaven helped me to remember my younger sister’s number & the father of my children’s number.

AMRULLAH Hospital …
Totally to my rescue, about six drips including flagyl & All manners were set into my system. I was revived, Head suturing were done, the young Muslim doctor was crying while suturing my head, hospital attendants were cleaning stretcher stained with my blood. Everybody was put on guard. The Miscreants traced me to the hospital & demanded that the lady brought in should be released by the hospital to be killed. This Muslim hospital saved me,hidded me away from them & I realised I was kept in a ward locked with a nurse who was given instructions not to open the ward to anyone she possibly didnt know the voice. Only the Hospital Manager, the doctor on duty & two nurses were given access to where I was.

2nd Day
I asked the only face I saw when I woke
up from the “deep sleep”, I said Pls who brought me. He looked at me with tears filled in his eyes & said A JTF Member brought you life-less. He said “we rejected you because you were not breathing and demanded he should not drop your body with us”

The AMRULLAH Hospital Manager said, when we refuse to take you the JTF Man dropped you on our stretcher & said you could come back that we should try.

AMRULLAH Hospital treated me & stabilised me. Then A thousand plus calls came on the Hospital Managers’ Phone,they said My Family Members were dead alive & Colleagues had sleepless night.

MANAGEMENT OF VOICE OF NIGERIA STOOD FOR ME

In the Midst of it all, Mr Ahaziah Suleiman My Exe.Dir.of News, Mr Ben Shemang,Hajia Sani,Hajia Hauwa even the DG I heard all sets contacts in motion for my proper care.

VON KADUNA STATE CORRESPONDENT SUDDENLY BECAME A MOTHER

Her name is Hajia Asmau, she was the family I saw,she was the colleague on ground, she wept uncontrollably & was still the one consoling herself ,I watched Asmau wiped tears several times. Above all this lady risked her life to identify with me in the hospital & practically carried a wheeled chair colleague to her house to ensure my safety.

Baba we all call him,Hajia Asmau’s Husband was there to carry me from the vehicle to hospital stretcher , He was there all through right beside his wife fixing my neck most times carrying me on wheel chair. Hajia Asmau’s children all cried uncontrollably and kept asking their Mother,Mummy what did she do to them”. Her family owned me straight up.

AGAIN MY BOSSES & COLLEAGUES TRIED

Aisha John Mark, Gloria Essien & Omolayo Alabi all pinned Prof. Dr Ogrimma down, owner of SKILLS HOSPITAL, He was there for VON, Of course curfew did not allow X-tray operator to be at work. But Dr Ogrimma tried for me. He ensured the fractured hand was well tied & he gave instructions that further saved me.

UNICEF TEAM & KADUNA STATE GOVT ALSO CARED

I Sincerely hail Mr Geoffrey Njoku, UNICEF Head Communication Officer, who i learnt contacted his colleagues in Kaduna State & informed them of my attack thesame night I was revived at AMRULLAH Hospital. Of course UNICEF contacted Kaduna State government. Lo & Behold ! Commissioner For Health Kaduna State visited the following afternoon of the attack , He later sent an ambulance who took me to government hospital on ” KD State government’s demand” though no bed space & everywhere was already filled with victims.

44 MILITARY HOSPITAL & MY FRACTURED HAND.

My bosses didn’t sleep nor take a Nap over my situation in Kaduna. The third day of the incidence my Ogas contacted Gen.Burutai’s Men to save the situation as there was still curfew & I almost couldn’t walk. A very calm Army Boss reported at Hajia Asmau’s residence with his men ,the third day and carried me to 44 MILITARY HOSPITAL to attend to my dangling fractured & dislocated hand. The army medical doctors insisted on thorough xtray including that of my head. At the end the Army left me better.

VON DELIVERED ME WHOLE TO MY FAMILY

Spending three days in Kaduna State at the heat of the crises wasn’t easy at all for my family.(Though Hajia Asmau’s presence created relief for my mother) VON sent an official car with the office nurse and armed men escorted my scattered body with my breathe intact out of Kaduna town . I was exchanged into VON official car @Kaduna Toll gate.

I do have a lot to say about Kaduna State October 2018 crises. While recuperating & bn on bed rest I think when my Nurse ( My mum’s eyes ) are few times away from me) I think about being carried from the Gutters by an Unknown Possibly Muslim JTF Member, I think about AMRULLAH Hospital ( a complete Muslim hospital who God used to stabilised me after coming out of deep sleep & yet not delivering me into the hands of the Hot Headed Miscreants, I think about the safety of Nigerian road users TRAVELLERS in the midst of CRISES across Nigeria???

So many thoughts feeling my sutured head but I sure must put all these thoughts down…

That I am Alive alone for now ,I am grateful to God Almighty.

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Senator Ifeanyi Ubah dies at 52

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The Senator representing Anambra South in the National Assembly, Ifeanyi Ubah, is dead.

Ubah, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Capital Oil, was said to have died in a hotel in London, the United Kingdom, on Saturday.

He would have been 53 on September 3.

Senate spokesperson, Yemi Adaramodu, confirmed Ubah’s death to our correspondent on Saturday.

He said, “It’s confirmed, but I am sending an official statement soon.”

Ubah, who was re-elected into the 10th Senate under the Young Peoples Party, had last year defected to the All Progressive Congress.

In September 2022, Ubah escaped assassination when he was attacked by gunmen on his way to Nnewi in Enugwu-Ukwu in Anambra State.

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JUST IN: Edo state Assembly impeaches Deputy Governor Shaibu

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The Edo State House of Assembly, on Monday, impeached the state’s Deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu.

The impeachment followed the adoption of the report of the seven-man investigative panel set up by the Assembly to probe allegations of misconduct against Shaibu.

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JUST IN: Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun joins ancestors at 81

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The Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Lekan Balogun has joined his ancestors after a brief illness.

He joined his ancestors at the age of 81.

It was gathered that the late monarch was taken to the hospital Wednesday morning having stayed indoor throughout Tuesday on account of slight malaria fever, though, he was hail and hearty on Monday during which he personally received few guests that paid him congratulatory visits on his second year anniversary on that day.

Making this announcement was the Baba-Kekere Olubadan and his younger brother, Dr Kola Balogun in a statement by the Personal Assistant (Media) to the late monarch, Oladele Ogunsola.

According to the statement, Dr. Balogun disclosed that Oba Balogun would be buried at his Aliiwo ancestral home by 4.00pm on Friday according to Islamic rites just as he said that the State Governor Seyi Makinde, though already verbally informed, would be formally notified early in the morning.

The late Olubadan was the first most educated to have emerged as Ibadan monarch, a British trained P.hd holder, a former university lecturer, former member of management staff of Shell British Petroleum, former gubernatorial candidate of the defunct Nigeria People’s Party, NPP, former Senator and a successful business man.

His last official outing was the Olubadan Advisory Council’s meeting which he presided over last Saturday where the decision to derobed Mogaji Akinsola, Olawale Oladoja was taken.

He however, on Tuesday instructed the Ekerin Olubadan, Oba Hamidu Ajibade to midwife a small committee to deliberate on last Friday’s decision on what should be the position of Ibadan Zone in the proposed newly reconstituted Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs.

The decision of the small committee was earlier on Thursday ratified by the Olubadan Advisory Council at a meeting presided over by Otun Olubadan and the former governor of Oyo State, High Chief Rashidi Ladoja and was to be taken to the late Oba Balogun for his signature Friday morning so as to meet the deadline for submission to the state Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters later in the day.

The late Olubadan is survived by wives, children and grandchildren.

Announcing the passage of the monarch, Governor Makinde, in a statement, stated that Olubadan, who joined his ancestors late Thursday evening at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan, described him as an epitome of royal excellence and a great achiever, who made great marks on Ibadanland in just a little over two years of his reign.

He expressed his condolences to the Olubadan-in-Council, the Oyo State Traditional Council and the people of Ibadanland and Oyo State, praying to God to grant repose to the soul of the deceased monarch.

Makinde said: “With total submission to the will of God, I announce the passing unto glory of our father, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Dr. Mohood Lekan Balogun, Alli Okunmade II, the 42nd Olubadan of Ibadanland.

“A mighty Iroko has fallen; Oba Dr. Balogun has joined the ancestors.

“In Kabiyesi, Ibadanland had a cosmopolitan and well-experienced Olubadan, who made indelible marks on the sands of history and achieved greatly within a short while.

“On behalf of the Government and good People of Oyo State, I condole with the immediate family of the Oba Dr. Balogun, the Olubadan-in-Council, the Oyo State Traditional Council and the people of Ibadanland.

“It is my prayer that God grants repose to the soul of our late monarch.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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