Abba Gambo, a professor at the University of Maiduguri, and a member of the El Kanemi Royal Family, has lost 32 siblings to the Boko Haram insurgency, which according to reports got violent in 2009. His elder brother, Abba Ibrahim, who was a traditional ruler as district head of Gudumbali was killed right in his presence, in front of their family house.
In terms of getting care for his traumatising experience, Gambo was an exception to the rule. He was on admission at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) teaching hospital for almost one month where his doctor friends were counselling him. “And then the trauma was being taken away from me,” he said.
Gambo is one of over 23 million people in the Northeast who have at one time or the other, lived through the terror of Boko Haram insurgents. There is hardly anyone from the region, who has not lost someone and/or properties to the insurgency. At present, as much as 2 million persons are internally displaced from three out of six states in the region.
Gambo, being a professor, member of the royal family, and an adviser to a number of state governors on agriculture, was able to get trauma care. “But then what of other people who had similar experiences, but do not have access to any doctors or trauma centres?” said Gambo in an interview conducted during a visit to Maiduguri.
Recalling his experience, he said “I knew the kind of shirt my brother wore at the time he was killed, and for the first one month after his death, whenever I see that same colour I got agitated.” He also explained that once in a while when driving around Abuja, and he sees someone that looks like his late brother, he would get agitated. According to him, he would usually have a feeling like, “since they did not kill you that day, he’s coming after you to kill you now.”
However, most northeast residents who have been victims of terrorist attacks are only thankful to flee the attacks, while hoping the gory memories fade off like a bad dream. The worst hit among northeast residents remains rural dwellers who farm for a living.
“But now you can’t see anybody, only dead bodies on the farms,” said Abdulkadir Jidda, chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Borno State chapter. For Jidda, he had to flee Marte, but beyond the memories of loved ones who had been “slaughtered by Boko Haram”, survival was more important. Being a leader of the farmers, and having a large family, his grief (and trauma) is perhaps, even more.
“I am now sitting at home doing nothing for five, six years. You can’t imagine the pain I am in, you just can’t imagine it,” Jidda said. He has never received trauma care, like millions of other victims of terrorism in the region.
Fannami Girema, a farmer in Buni Yadi, Gujba LGA, Yobe state, recalled when he fled his home when Boko Haram attacked. Sad and frightened, he said all that mattered was their lives, not farms, crops or food. According to him, some were killed as they fled and therefore it was a victory for those who were able to escape.
“This is a pain that we still feel, but we are just coping with it. It is only time that will reduce the way we continue to feel about the whole experience,” he said.
Gambo, though fortunate to have received trauma care, also recalled when he witnessed a suicide bomb attack at the palace of Abubakar Umar Ibn Garbai Elkanemi, the Shehu of Borno.
Driving out of the palace after the attack, “there were pieces of human flesh on my car. I remember driving upon stumps of human body,” he recalled sadly.
He could not tell whether he was driving across a leg, hand, or other parts of the human body. “But then, these are things that will continue to haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said, with pain in his voice.
Women whose husbands were killed in their presence, men whose wives and daughters were raped in their presence, abound in the terror-stricken Northeast, and as Gambo emphasised, there is no one to console them, no one to talk to, no trauma centre.
“There is no one to talk to, console, or provide guidance. It is a very serious situation,” he said with regret.
CALEB OJEWALE
