Auno attacks: ‘I wish my daughter got a befitting burial’
Though still in shock, late Fatima Babagana’s mother, Hajiya Hafsah Babagana, bottled up her emotions to speak to Daily Trust Saturday over the phone. She described her late daughter as being different in character from the rest of her children. “She hardly gets angry and would never join issues with somebody. She just was different.” “According to their driver’s account, my daughter was chatting on her phone and all of a sudden, they heard some rumbles and insurgents coming towards them. As soon as she sighted them, she uttered ‘Innalillahi wa inna ilaihi raji’un’, and upon hearing her say that, they shot her on the head.
“The driver said as soon as she was shot, he alighted from the vehicle and ran. He didn’t return to the scene until the next morning, where he found her remains severely burnt.”
On the news making the rounds that she was about to get married, Hajiya Hafsah said, “She had hinted me that a suitor would call me and he did, asking for her hand in marriage. I told him that I would need to speak to her first and then get back to him. I called her to inform her that the man is seeking her hand in marriage and they are planning it for March. She said that I should hold on first. I asked her why and she said she had to sort out some things first.”
Her father, also as shocked as every other family member, Daily Trust Saturday learnt, is a soldier. “Yes, he’s a staff sergeant fighting in Maiduguri under Operation Lafiya Dole. But he was injured recently and had undergone surgery and is on six months leave. He left Kano for Maiduguri that fateful Monday morning after we got the news.”
Despite all that had happened, Hajiya Hafsah Babagana said, “We give praise to Allah. Being that every soul shall definitely taste death. So, we give our submission to Him.” But she left a word of advice for the government, “To be honest, we don’t have any working security at all. As soldiers, why would you barricade the road and prevent people from passing? Leaving them to their fate when the insurgents struck; no soldier came to their aid.
“There’s recklessness and carelessness
“I am pained by the state they left my daughter’s remains. It wasn’t enough that they shot her dead, they went ahead and burnt her beyond recognition. They should’ve left her body for us to see and give her a befitting burial.”
on the part of the military. Since they knew that they were not going to pass the night there, they should have allowed them and this unfortunate incidence would have been averted. They blocked the road and vanished into thin air. If they had remained there to man the road; many lives would not have been lost. My daughter wouldn’t have died. Only three of them survived the attack. As far as I am concerned, though it’s predestined, there’s carelessness on the part of the soldiers.”
She appealed to the government to do everything possible to improve the security situation in the country. “I am pained by the state they left my daughter’s remains. It wasn’t enough that they shot her dead, they went ahead and burnt her beyond recognition. They should’ve left her body for us to see and give her a befitting burial.”
At this point, she broke down in tears and couldn’t continue with the interview.
Muhammad T. Shehu while describing his late cousin said, “She was friendly, honest; you can’t see her doing something bad. She was a straight forward person.”
Just like every family member and friend, Muhammad said he was still in shock. “When we got the news of her death, it was