Bomb victim swallows insecticide after aide coordinator warns her “don’t call me again!”
Neglected bomb victim, Joy Musa, drank insecticide popularly called “ota piapia” after the coordinator of a public fund inaugurated to help her told her “don’t call me again!”
Fortunately, Joy survived after her teenage daughter alerted neighbours who scrambled to save the widow.
The incident happened on Monday in Oregun, Lagos, where Joy, 42, and her two surviving children are being sheltered by a kind-hearted family.
“I want to die, why am I still alive?” Joy asked our correspondent who visited the home on Tuesday.
“I am tired and I want to die,” she said. “The people who should help me have neglected me. I’m in hell. Let me die and rest.”
The Victims Support Fund (VSF) coordinated by Prof. Sunday Ochoche has N24 billion to spare.
But Ochoche told Newsroom VSF “cannot” help Joy Musa who lost her brother, husband and four children during a 2013 terror attack on Dogo Nahawa in Jos, Plateau State.
WATCH: “I want to die and rest,” Joy Musa says
Miracle, one the children who survived, still have nightmares, Joy told us. He’s 11 now. His sister, Precious, is 14. They are out of school.
Joy said she attempted suicide after Ochoche called her on Monday warning her “don’t call me again”.
“Professor Sunday Ochoche called me by himself by 11:47am,” Joy told Newsroom.
“He said ‘Joy’ and I answered ‘sir’. He said ‘don’t call me again.’
“After the call, I saw there was no hope for me again. So I drank ota piapia. The family accommodating us here are relocating and we cannot go with them.
“By the end of March, the landlord will send us parking. We will have to go live under a bridge,” she said.
During the 2013 attack, Joy’s husband, Sefiani Musa, was bombed to bloody shreds while a younger Miracle watched. Joy’s brother who was about graduating from the university was also killed. So were four grown children Joy bore Sefiani. They had six.
A bullet hit Joy’s leg before Nigerian soldiers found her. She hasn’t walked unaided since that inglorious day. She hasn’t been able to work to sponsor Miracle and Precious to school. Doctors said Joy needs N1.2 million for a final surgery. She’s previously had two funded by private individuals.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated VSF to help people like Joy rise again. VSF, according to Ochoche, has received donations to the tune of N28 billion with only N4 billion of that amount reportedly disbursed to victims.
Ochoche messaged Newsroom Tuesday night “I don’t recall Joy Musa’s case”.
“A lady called me. I don’t recall who she is, but I told her I was not in the country and therefore could not hold any long discussion.”
President of Bomb Victims Association of Nigeria (BVAN), Kayode Olatunji, said Ochoche is well aware of Joy’s case.
“He can’t say he’s not aware of her case,” Olatunji, himself a neglected bomb victim, said.
VIDEO: Joy Musa narrates ordeal, pleads for help
Joy, after her failed suicide billed, had her mouth and throat bleached. We don’t know the amount of damage the insecticide wrecked on her.
“We can’t take mommy to hospital because we have no money,” Precious, Joy’s teenage daughter, said.
Precious has been helping her mother do most things. She baths her, washes her bandages amongst other things.
Wow