Orphaned by Bandits

Musa and his brother Ahmed, whose parents were killed by bandits in Tsauwa village of Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State, have been left on the street without parental care as their sisters were also massacred in the same attack, writes Francis Sardauna

The atmospheric weather condition of Katsina was cold after a heavy downpour that lasted for two hours on a recent Thursday morning, but Musa Muhammed and his younger brother Ahmed seemed oblivious of the weather. They had more pressing needs as they moved from one restaurant and stranger to the other with their bowls outstretched and their faces solemn enough to extract empathy.

Their parents were among the 31 people killed by bandits in Tsauwa village of Batsari Local Government Area of the state last year. Following the death of their breadwinners, these children have been forced to grow up fast. Daily, they have been exposed to extreme harsh living conditions and are often perpetually in lack.

Accordingly, Musa and his brother, who now live with their Islamic teacher, Mallam Sagir in Rahamawa community within Katsina City, are facing serious challenges ranging from lack of food, water, proper accommodation and a stable caregiver that will spearheads their affairs. Thus, the innocence of childhood has been tanned out of them.

On the day THISDAY stumbled on them, Musa’s face was scrolled up in a frown. It was difficult to believe he was only 13 years old. He had grown up so suddenly, with the heavy burden of providing for himself and his six-year-old brother, Ahmed. Musa and his younger brother whom were among those that survived the attack, fled their ancestral home (Tsauwa) immediately after the bloody invasion with their stepmother, Zainab to Katsina, the Katsina State capital.

Their father, Muhammed, whom they said, was a big-time millet and beans farmer in the village, was killed with their mother, Fatima, and their “corpses burnt” by the marauding bandits. More disturbing, both of them do not know the whereabouts of their stepmother, who led them out of the gory massacre to Katsina metropolis.

The 13-year-old orphan, who was seen with his younger brother that fateful Thursday at Glorious Restaurant opposite United Bank of Africa (UBA) in Kofar-Kaura, Katsina metropolis, begging for alms to feed themselves, was reluctant to talk until he was sure a token would drop into the red bowl he held in his hand.

Our correspondent, who interviewed Musa in Hausa, reached out into his pocket for N500 note. It was not until then that Musa whose younger (Ahmed) was crying for water, became willing to answer some of the journalist’s questions. Musa is unmistakably a teenager but the scaly, wrinkled skin around his feet made him seem much older. The duo generally looked unkempt in their new Sallah attires.

Musa, who couldn’t control his emotions while narrating their ordeals to THISDAY, said: “Some people attacked our village (Tsauwa) last year and killed my father, Muhammed and our mother, Fatima. They also killed my elder sisters—Khadijah and Hafsatu. They attacked the village in the night and after their operation, I saw the lifeless bodies of our father, mother and two of my sisters”.

After the attack on Tsauwa village, Musa said their stepmother told them that the perpetrators killed many women and children, kidnapped and rapped many other women. They also burnt their silos and carted away many cows in the village. He added that the scenario left them aground, wandering with no parental care and struggling for survival.

Musa further explained that they were sleeping when the marauders invaded the village, saying it was after the bandits ransacked the village that their stepmother, Zainab brought them to Katsina and “handed us over to one Mallam Sagir in Rahamawa.

“Since last year, we have not seen our stepmother and life is now unbearable for me and my younger brother. We do follow other Al-majirai to other parts of Katsina city to beg for alms but most at times, they collect what is meant for us so we stopped following them for begging”, Musa added as he cried uncontrollably.

According to Musa, “Our biggest problem now is food because every day, my brother and I have to trek from Rahamawa to either Kofar-Kaura, Sabon-Angwa, Central Market and Kofar-Kwaya in search of what to eat and drink. Another problem that we are facing is lack of good accommodation; we do sleep on bare floor at Mallam Sagir’s house”.

Asked where they got money to sew Sallah clothes, Musa said: “I bought the yards N800 from the little money we realised from begging while Mallam (Sagir) paid for the sewing. Myself and my younger brother depend on alms we receive from individuals daily for survival. We are calling on government and businessmen to assist us with shelter and food”.

Sadly enough, these children have had to witness agonising events as they roam the streets begging for alms. “Sometimes, we beg for the whole day without getting a kobo or food to eat”, Musa said. The condition of living that Musa and his brother are in at the movement is a recipe for trauma because they are exposed to the physical trauma of cold, rain and sun.

Thus, the absence of a nurturing environment endangers Musa and Ahmed’s psychological stability and has long-lasting effects as lack of a nurturer destroys the children’s ability to empathise, love and feel loved.

The consequence of this, for these orphans, is that they can become dangerous to themselves and society. They can be easily recruited for criminal activities. In their early teens, except they receive appropriate care, they can begin to show signs of juvenile deliquescence, hence the need for government and well-to-do individuals to assist these bandits-made orphans to earn a living.

However, in a bid to assuage the hardship afflicting Musa, Ahmed and other orphans in the state, Governor Aminu Bello Masari, on January 20, 2021 inaugurated a special committee to ascertain the numbers of orphans and widows left behind as a result of banditry across the 11 frontline local government areas of the state for assistance by the state government.

The humanitarian committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Governor, QS Yakubu Mannir, is saddled with the responsibility of identifying orphans and widows in the affected Local Government Areas of Batsari, Jibia, Faskari, Kankara, Sabuwa, Danmusa, Dandume, Kurfi, Dutsin-ma, Safana and Danja, and to suggest the kind of assistance to be provided to the victims by government.

Another onerous responsibility of the committee is to advise the state government on how to improve the lives of the orphans in the 11 frontline local governments ravaged by bandits as well as to determine the source of financing the project and co-opt any other individual that may assist in the conduct of the committee’s assignment.

Therefore, with the inauguration of this committee, bandits-made orphans like Musa and his younger brother, Ahmed, are expected to be identified and assisted by the state government by taking them to government-owned orphanage homes and other related institutions to enable them live a good life, while commencing or continuing with their education.