Barnabass Ishaya is still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of one of his hands, after a group of armed robbers broke into his off-campus room in the Tayi Area of Minna, the capital of Niger State, in the early hours of Monday, October 2, 2023, and cut off his left hand in the course of robbing him.
The robbers also inflicted cutlass injuries on his right hand and head, and stole his mobile phone and torchlight.
The 17-year-old had been staying off-campus as a student of the Niger State Teachers Professional Development Institute in Minna, a boarding school that had recently been relocated from Mararaban-Dandaudu in Munya Local Government Area due to banditry attacks on communities in the area.
According to a Daily Trust report, Ishaya from his hospital bed at the IBB Specialist Hospital Minna, explaining that the robbers had invaded their compound around 2 am on Monday: “I did not argue with them. When they forced the door open, I tried to pick up my torchlight to see who they were. Immediately, one of them cut off my hand.
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They also inflicted injuries on my head and right hand. It was like a dream to me. They went away with my mobile phone and my torchlight. I don’t want to drop out of school. I am not happy with what has happened to me. But if I can get support, I will continue with my studies after I recover. I plead with the government to help me.”
Barnabas’ father, Ishaya Maigida—who is an internally displaced person from Munya LGA— said, “I am very disturbed and traumatized by what happened to my son. I can’t explain how I feel. I never thought he would end up like this. He is now a disabled person. How will he even enjoy his stay in school with one hand?”
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Residents in the area have said robbery activities have become a daily occurrence in Minna, despite efforts by security operatives and the state government to curtail the menace.
Another victim, Shuaibu Abdullahi, a final year student of the Niger State School of Health Technology, Minna, who also sustained head injuries from the attack said, “The robbers broke into my room and attacked me with machetes and inflicted injuries on my head and leg. They dressed like vigilantes. Two of them were holding locally made guns while the rest were with cutlasses and knives.
They took my phone and other valuables, and also collected N5, 150 cash. While they were operating in my room, they locked my fellow tenants in their rooms with a padlock so that they wouldn’t escape.”
Also at the emergency unit of the IBB Specialist Hospital was Aliyu Tajo, a victim of another robbery attack at Barikin-Sale Area of Minna. Tajo, an Islamic School Teacher said the incident that left him with severe injuries on both hands happened around 5 pm on Saturday after he had returned from a Maulud procession, saying that he was attacked while resting in the mosque.
The spokesperson for the Niger Police Command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, said since the donation of operational vehicles by the Niger State Government, police and other security operatives have been visible everywhere, especially in Minna. He added that the incidences of robbery had reduced. However, he confirmed the incident that left Barnabas Ishaya without one hand.
The Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Dr Hadiza Asabe Mohammed, described Barnabas’s incident as heartbreaking, saying that the ministry would do everything possible to ensure that the boy does not drop out of school.
“We will do everything humanly possible to sustain this child to any level of education because it is really heartbreaking for a child that has come this far to eventually find himself in this unfortunate situation,” Dr Mohammed said.
She added that the government was already building new structures at the premises of the former Women Teachers’ College with full hostel accommodation to avoid students staying off campus.
