Update On The 4yr Old Boy Whose Eyes Were Gouged Out By Ritualists!

Remember the 4-year-old boy, whose eyes were gouged out by ritual killers in Zaria back in January?he's reportedly doing well and coping with his current situation, but has laid a curse on those behind his sudden blindness saying, “those who plucked my eyes, will have theirs plucked by God”

Sadiq Usman was abducted by two unknown men, who gouged out his eyes just a stone throw from his family house in Buda, on January 25 2016,

Narrating his story the best way he could, Saliq told Punch:

“One day, grandma gave me N10 to go and buy sweets. I went, I saw two men on a motorbike. They were following me and one of them asked me whether there was a road in front and I said no. Later, they promised taking me to where they would get better sweets for me. 

“Then, they grabbed me and took me away to where I was given injections several times and they removed my eyes,” Sadiq said in fluent Hausa language. 

According to Khadija Usman, Sadiq’s elder sister, Sadiq’s ordeal started with his craving to eat sweets before going for his Koranic classes.

She said, “For over 30 minutes grandma didn’t see Sadiq but we were relaxed, thinking that he was out there playing with his friends as usual. But after a while, some of our neighbours came to inform us that they saw Sadiq in a pool of his blood at a dump-site behind the village’s baby-friendly hospital and that his eyes were removed. We all ran there, saw him crying and discovered it was true. Then, we saw that his two eyes were gone.”

Shocked, sad and with every sense of one that has lost a treasure, Sadiq’s grandmother told Punch that she cried uncontrollably at the incident. Taking solace in God, she said, “I know it was Allah’s wish that such a thing should happen.”

Describing Sadiq as very dear to her heart, the grandmother still wondered what made the men gouge out her grandson’s eyes.

“When the unfortunate incident happened, I cried bitterly and could not eat for many days. I know that God will not let the perpetrators of this dastardly act go unpunished,” she said.

The four-year-old is said to be coping well with his condition. Though blind, family members said Sadiq now recognises them and his friends through their voices.

This was unlike when the incident occurred.

“Initially, Sadiq would always ask his mother to open his eyes for him so as to see her (his mother). It was a pitiful sight and we would cry but now, he knows what has happened to his eyes and now recognises us with our voices,” said the grandmother.

Accepting what befell her grandson as the will of Allah, she noted,

“We are praying to Allah to open Sadiq’s heart to be able to do wonderful things like some of the world’s outstanding blind persons. Sadiq is a wonderful boy and we are ready to do our very best for him. We have accepted what Allah has destined and we don’t have problems coping with his current predicament.”

Though not a journey of ease for the Usmans, the family members showered encomiums on personalities which included Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State; Senator Shehu Sani as well as the highly revered Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris.

“When the incident occurred, the Emir sponsored Sadiq’s trip to the National Eye Centre in Kaduna. From there, we were referred to the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, where they operated upon the eyes,” a family member said.

Meanwhile, arrangements are in place to fly Sadiq to India. Sadiq’s elder sister told Punch that the gesture was in fulfillment of the Emir’s promise on sponsoring the treatment.

She added that though at ABUTH, doctors had proposed to construct artificial eyes to fill the spaces left; the overseas treatment had put on hold the surgery in Nigeria.

“His royal highness, Dr. Shehu Idris is making arrangement to take the boy overseas for further treatment,” she said.

The Protocol Officer to the Emir of Zuazzau, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan, noted that the Emirate Council was highly disturbed by Sadiq’s ordeal, describing it as sad and most unfortunate.

He said, “We pray that those behind the dastardly are apprehended and punished.”

Can Sadiq see again? The Chief Medical Director, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika, Zaria, Prof. Lawal Khalid, responded in the negative.

“No, but the removed eyes would be replaced withartificial eyes. Already, the operation had been successfully carried out by experts at the ophthalmology department of the hospital and the artificial eyes cost less and they are accessible any time the need arises,” Khalid said.

The police have reportedly arrest two persons in connection with the incident.