HE was on his way to Sokoto State for the National Youth Service. He was in an upbeat mood with his colleagues who were also heading for the Seat of the Caliphate for the same purpose. They were all looking forward to a fulfilling service year. Oluwaloseyi Babaeko graduated from the Local Government Studies Department of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State last year
He was happy when he was mobilised for youth Service, having spent about six years for a four-year programme, a delay caused by strikes.
The story changed when Oluwaloseyi was Sokoto-bound.
The vehicle he was travelling in was attacked by Fulani herdsmen. The two rear tyres of the bus suddenly burst while on motion; the vehicle skidded off the road and landed in a pit on the Kebbi highway.
As he crawled out of the mangled bus, Oluwaloseyi discovered that he had a fractured leg and a dislocated hip. Others in the bus, including youths also going to Sokoto for service, sustained injuries.
Recounting his experience, Oluwaloseyi said: “The accident occurred on July 3, last year. I left Lagos the previous day for Sokoto State where I was posted for service. We were attacked by some Fulani herdsman in Kebbi at 4am. The attack was unexpected. The driver had lost control of the vehicle and the two tyres burst. The bus swerved into the bush. I had a fracture on my limb and a dislocation on my hip.”
Writhing in pain for two hours, Oluwaloseyi, who described the accident as “a close shave with death”, said it was by divine intervention that the injured passengers were rescued by policemen, who came to the scene.
He said:“When the police came to the scene two hours later, we were taken to a hospital in Kebbi State for first aid treatment after which National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) officials transferred us to Usmanu Danfodiyo Teaching Hospital, Sokoto State.”
The accident did not stop the Fulani heardsmen from robbing the injured passengers. The robbers dispossessed the accident victims of their valuables, including money.
“One of the Fulani men held a local gun while the others were armed with machetes and daggers. They were about six in number. One of them was speaking smattering English and others spoke Hausa. They ordered us to bring out our personal effects, despite that we were in pains. They didn’t show pity for us. They took our money and left,” Oluwaloseyi said.
Oluwaloseyi was redeployed to Lagos State the next day on health grounds but he could not go immediately because of his fractured limb. He needed an operation to correct the bone dislocation. After three weeks of delay, Oluwaloseyi left a federal hospital in Gwagwalada, Abuja for surgery at Camek Orthopaedic Hospital, Gwarimpa to bond the fractured bone. He was in the hospital for close to six months after the surgery.
His tribulation did not end there. Eight months after, Oluwaloseyi is still contending with a broken limb. He cannot walk without crutches, although his dislocated hip joint has been fixed.
“Fixing my hip joint dislocation was a difficult task. I had to resort to unorthodox means. I was already making plans for a hip transplant in India before somebody told us we could do it at Favour’s Clinic, Makurdi,” he said. Oluwaloseyi was supported by his brother, Mr Steve Babaeko, a businessman, Mr Godwin Oriaku and his wife, Joy Oriaku, who are his in-laws.
Last December, he left the clinic to resume his youth service at Onigbongbo Local Government Area of Lagos State. The Corps member said he had written the directorate of NYSC to refund the money he spent on treatment and for his unpaid seven months allowance.
On the lesson learnt from his ordeal, Oluwaloseyi said: “I have since discovered that Nigeria is not a country that is worth dying for. If it were to be in a sane society, the head of NYSC would have visited us in the hospital. All the treatment I underwent, I paid for. No help came from the NYSC, yet I had the accident when I was going for orientation to serve my country. This is sad.”
Oluwaloseyi, enjoined prospective Corps members not to be discouraged by his ordeal. “Whatever is bound to happen will happen. I will not say that anybody posted to the North should not go. I have forgiven the Fulani men because they are ignorant. The Hausa people are not bad because I got my admission to study in OAU through a Hausa man,” he said.
Oluwaloseyi said he would be returning to hospital for another surgery on his leg in July after he would have completed his service.
