By Haruna Mohammed Salisu
Boka is a mad woman that gave birth on the street. Her real name is Lami from Shira LGA of Bauchi State. I saw her lying by the road side with her little baby on my way to Shira town to meet with parents of out of school children on a USAID funded project I supervise. I asked the driver to stop. I quickly got down and approached the woman. At first I was sceptical – understandably not to be trapped by a wild woman, since I do not know the trajectory of her insanity. I enquired from some passersby. I learnt she is simple.
I was (encouraged) by Suleiman Adamu from Shira to go ahead and talk to her. I did. In spite of her state of affairs, Boka could coherently articulate her points and would tell you all that befalls her. She told me that she was impregnated by a man from Adamami, a village not far away from Shira town. Boka’s condition and her innocent child left me bewildered for many reasons.
One; her pregnancy is not Mary’s type (Maryam AS)—Jesus’ mother. She was impregnated by one of society’s condemnable fellows who betrays human conscience. The doer is one of the most horrific creatures that walk on this earth. Most wicked, wild and nasty.
Two; the whole community where the filthy fellow committed his dastardly act could not do anything to apprehend him and bring him to book despite their knowledge of him. He’s freely conducting his businesses at the mercy and reckless tolerance of the community.
Three; the community watches as the woman roams about with her innocent Zainab amidst winter, sleeping outside, sometimes by the road side without any form of shelter and cloth for the little baby. This banality of social isolationism is the most dangerous and delusionary form of intolerance I have ever seen.
Four; no one is disturbed by the innocence of the little baby, let alone offer refuge of any kind—if not for the mother.
Five; the baby is exposed to several dangers: she eats and drinks from the scraps and remains of her mother’s collection from the dustbin— since that is where the mother collects her food.
Six; the innocent baby was vaccinated only once, as testified by the mother. Impliedly, she is vulnerable to all kinds of sicknesses and diseases since her mother is unaware of any form of vaccination let alone think of getting one for her baby.
Seven; I was more puzzled by the lack of sympathy and empathy exhibited by the host communities—shira-Azare axis who watch Boka wander around with her Zainab in tatters. It speaks volumes about our collective self-deception and failure. It is more unfortunate that this woman roams around within the glare of Shira local government officials as my investigations reveal. They were not moved by an inch to rehabilitate Boka and her little Zainab. What a society!
I am making a special case for her shortly. I hope this write-up accelerate the process. People of conscience should rescue Boka and her Zainab. Come to her aid! Please come to her aid quickly! History will not forgive us if we turn away and ignore plights of Boka and her little Zainab.
The dominant Islamic enclave, Islamic organizations, traditional institutions and other custodians of the society ‘ s values should step up with more campaigns and awareness that could clearly denounce such inhumane exploitation of lunatics, not just Boka. Lastly, Boka deserves justice. Human right NGOs and legal practitioners should pick up the challenge to initiate legal tussle that would eventually “reward” the culprit accordingly
Haruna Mohammed Salisu is a Freelance Journalist based in Bauchi. He could be reached at 08063180608 or harunababale@gmail.com
