A job is any work that a person does daily to earn a living and every job has its good, the bad and the ugly side. When Umaru Gambo, a commercial driver conveyed yam sellers from Plateau State to Bauchi, he never knew he would be having one of the most painful trips of his career.
Gambo is a driver who conveyed yams from Benue and Plateau states to Bauchi State where yam sellers bought the commodity, thinking that when they reach Bauchi his customers will pay him his money for the load but unknown to him his vehicle would be burnt down by hoodlums, including the loaded yams he carried.
Umar is now battling for his life after he was allegedly macheted by attackers in Tafawa Balewa Military gate in Bauchi State as he was conveying yam sellers from Yelwan Shendam in Plateau State to Bauchi.
Gambo related how the innocuous journey he usually make on a daily basis to earn a living nearly claimed his life when he was attacked on his last trip on Saturday January 21.
Writhing in pain as a result of wounds inflicted on him, Ibrahim who escaped with his life miraculously said he never imagined they would be attacked as they started the journey. The man whose right hand was almost chopped off as a result of the attack, while speaking from his sick bed, recalled: “We arrived late and we were told to stay until the following morning by soldiers stationed at the entrance gate to Tafawa Balewa town, because there was curfew, so we slept there. We are aware of the curfew that normally starts from 12 in the midnight and by six in the morning most of the drivers who ran into the curfew will start leaving.
“There were other vehicles where we packed when I arrived there and I saw some soldiers at the road block. Around 3 in the morning, we heard gunshots. We did not see the soldiers when the shooting started. We turned our vehicles to run to Plateau State. When the vehicles turned down, I lost control and hit a tree. I struggled to come out of the car because the steering was almost crushing me. My big vehicle was carrying several passengers and yams. I had four conductors that used to assist me. It was near the tree that some people attacked me and started hitting me with cutlass all over my body. Somehow, God helped me and I escaped into the bush. I managed to escape through sugar cane and banana farms. Inside the bush it was between me and my God. How I am alive to tell the story is purely the work of God. As God would have it, one of the drivers who also escaped found me in the bush. I was not myself. That was how I was rescued. Until now, two of boys are still missing. I learnt that one of my boys was found in the hand of a police DPO in a police station.”
While Gambo is battling with his life, the Yam Sellers Association of Nigeria Bauchi State has declared that five of its members are missing after the recent attack on Tafawa Balewa by unknown gunmen on Sunday 22nd January 2012 as a result of the attack.
The State Chairman of the Yam Sellers Association, Alhaji Shuaibu Ibrahim has declared five of the members missing after the attack. Ibrahim stated, “Five people among our members are missing after the recent attacked in Tafawa Balewa. Initially after the attack, we did not get eight people but later we got three, two with serious injuries in their bodies.”
He recounted the story: “Our members loaded yam from Yalwan Shendam in Plateau State. When they approached security checkpoint on the border between Bauchi and Plateau they were asked to stop at the checkpoint and wait until the next day. While they were waiting, they heard gunshots and the soldiers directed them to find their way. In their effort to turn back their vehicles, one of our vehicles with eight passengers loaded with yams fell down. The driver of the vehicle and one other sustained various degrees of injury while the other person was found in the hand of the DPO Bogoro.”
The chairman gave the names of the people declared missing as Harisu Alhaji Sadi, Suleyman Mohammed, Shehu Alhaji Gambo Sabiu Alaramma and Yagana Alhaji Gambo. He added that this was the second time his members were attacked by people believed to be inhabitants of Tafawa Balewa.
He said their people now resolved to avoid the road until when government guarantees their security along it, adding, “We have reported the matter to the Police for necessary action. Our members in the entire North East sub-region have agreed to even pay higher money to reach their destination through other roads before government intervenes and guarantees the security of their members”.
Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Barau, said the people reported the matter, and that definitely they would write to the Police commissioner who would direct investigation.
Tafawa Balewa is one of the flash points bedeviled with ethno-religious crisis since 1958 and the crises worsened in the last ten years in the area. Hundreds of lives have been lost. Houses and places of worship and properties worth billions of Naira have similarly been destroyed due to recurrent crises in the area.
