Eleven days after the November 16th Governorship election in Kogi
State, a 23-year-old lady, Deborah Omooba is still lying ill at the
female medical ward of Federal Medical Centre, FMC Lokoja.
She was the victim of a stray bullet that hit her while having her siesta.
The bullet was said to have been fired from a helicopter on aerial surveillance.
Deborah was sleeping in the Mission House of The Apostolic Church
headquarter, Ajara Quarters, Lokoja, when the shot was fired.
The bullet pierced through her body and lodged at the upper region of
her thigh very close to her private part.
Conducting newsmen on Wednesday round the scene of the incident, the
pastor in charge of the church, Abraham Olusegun said Deborah is
daughter of one of the Overseers of the church.
He said the lady was found bleeding profusely.
Pastor Olusegun who said the victim was immediately rushed to the
Federal Medical Centre lokoja also narrated how the church was
attacked during the last general election.
He said the attack was reported, but the police and other security
agencies did nothing about it.
At the Medical Centre, the head of clinical services, Dr Taiwo Jones
said the pellet lodged at a very sensitive part of the victim’s body
which makes its extraction at the moment very difficult .
He said whenever a bullet was lodged at a very sensitive area of the
body that could cause more damage, the best thing to do was to leave
it for sometime and allow the body system to react and push the bullet
to the surface which will make it easier for it to be removed by
surgery.
He said Deborah is responding to treatment and expressed hopes of her
quick recovery.
Dr Jones also said the hospital was not spared by the surveillance helicopter.
He said some gunshots were aimed at the premises, which made everyone
to scamper for safety.
According to him it was Providence that saved staff and patients of
the medical center as two bullets were recovered in the hospital – one
at the consultant office and another at the hospital library.
He specifically said the Corp member attached to the library had to
run away from her house because of sporadic gunshots to the hospital,
only for her to narrowly escape being hit again by some bullet right
in her office when she ran to hibernate.
He said when the management of the medical centre reported the
incident to the police, and submitted the spent bullets.
The police commissioner, Hakeem Busari denied knowledge of any
helicopter releasing tear gas or gunshots on the election day.
“How can it happen when we are not in a war situation,” he said. The
CP explained that the only helicopter used was used for surveillance.
He said it did not even shoot tear gas canisters, wondering how it
could have fired gunshots.
