DECEMBER 21, 2016 MARKED EXACTLY EIGHT YEARS AFTER THE TRAGIC ACCIDENT AT DOROWA BABUJE IN BARKIN LADI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA PLATEAU STATE
The Tragic Accident Which Led To The Death Of Female Footballers Contracted By The Jos North Local Government To Participate In The "Ngo Talatu Jang Female Football Tournament" That Year In Shendam.
The Parents of These Dead Girls Narrated Their Ordeal To African Drum.
By JOSEPH A. ADUDU
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| FORMER ROCK CITY QUEENS FOOTBALL TEAM |
Our man did not find
it difficult to trace the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Uwandu, the parent of late
Mercy Uwandu at Alheri Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State
Nigeria. Mercy was a member of the Jos North Female Football Team popularly
known as Rock City Queens that was
involved in a ghastly motor accident in December 2008 at Dorowa Babuje, leading
to her death and the death of almost all other team members.
As our man
introduced himself and his mission, tears started rolling down her cheeks.
While still sobbing, she narrated how useful and dedicated Mercy was to the
family, describing her as “a woman with a man’s heart.”
She said, “I can’t
believe Mercy is gone. She was the breadwinner of this family from the little
money she made during tournaments and competitions. She was also promising as
she was determined to do much in life.
“That determination
earned her admission into the University of Jos. Ever since her demise; I have
not been myself anymore. This country is not worth sacrificing for. Imagine,
children died in the course of serving this state and government has not deemed
it fit to commiserate with us. It is unfortunate,” she added.
Indeed, Mrs. Uwandu
looked traumatized. According to our findings, late Mercy while playing
football enrolled at the University of Jos and until her demise that year, was
a 400-level student in the Business Management Department.
It was a similar
story at the house of Mr. John Oyetego of Anguwan Suya, Jos, a consultant with
the Plateau State Ministry of Sports, whose daughter Na’omi, the youngest
player of the Rock City Queens, also died in the accident. John looked
distraught and wanted to be left alone. The enlarged photograph of late
12-year-old Na’omi was still hanging on the wall in the sitting room and Na’omi
seemed to be smiling down at him. Like Mercy, John described late Na’omi as a
very hardworking and dedicated child.
“She was the last
born of my children, but she seemed to be more concerned about us than the
others. Na’omi always brought home whatever stipends she made during
tournaments. I received the death of Na’omi with rude shock. Since then, my
world seems to have turned upside down.
According to Kenneth
Eze, the year 2008 was a year he cannot easily forget. According to him, it was
a year of double tragedy. Eze, a mechanic at Farin Gada, a suburb of Jos, said
that year, he lost his beloved wife to a strange illness. The corpse was taken
to the South-Eastern part of the country for burial. Shortly after the funeral
rites, family members prevailed on him not to make a hasty return to Jos with
his children until the family offered last prayers for the peaceful repose of
the soul of his wife, a counsel Eze had no alternative but to accept.
Soon afterwards, one
of his children, Augustina, a footballer, informed him about a certain
telephone call she received from a sports official in Jos North Local
Government Council, followed by another from her then coach, Zakari Ahmed.
In her explanation
to her father, she said that a female football tournament among the 17 local
government areas of Plateau State in honour of the then First Lady of Plateau state, Ngo Talatu
Jang, was being organized and she was picked to be among the Jos North Local
Government contingent. That news suddenly cut short Mr. Eze’s plan of a
prolonged stay in the village and a hurried return with Augustina to Jos.
On the 21st
of December 2008, Augustina bid her family goodbye as she was set to join her
colleagues for the onward journey to Shendam, venue of the tournament.
“I asked her if they
were returning that same day, she said that depended on the arrangement put in
place by government,” said Eze.
According to him,
“All efforts to reach her on her cell phone in the evening that day proved
abortive.” He said that the following day, while he was at his late wife’s
shop, one of his daughters called to inform him of an accident involving the
bus conveying the female football team.
“Immediately I heard
this news, I slumped. When I regained consciousness, I learnt that not all the
occupants in the vehicle died and that my daughter could be one of the
survivors. Hours later, my daughter called again to inform me that many of the
footballers in the vehicle had died, including Augustina. I slumped again and was
rushed to hospital,”.
Just like others,
Eze could not believe his daughter is dead stressing that sometimes, he feels
as if he is responsible for his daughter’s death, for allowing her to cut short
her stay in the East while still mourning the death of her mother to honour a
request by government, only for her to die in the course of service, yet the
same government has not deemed it fit to commiserate with the family.
According to Eze,
“With this kind of treatment from government to its citizens, how can citizens
develop the zeal to serve their fatherland?”
In the words of
Miriam Ibrahim, one of the survivors of the accident, “Plateau State has no
regard for athletes. I remain to ever regret playing for the local government.”
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| THE J5 BUS THAT WAS INVOLVED IN THE ACCIDENT WITH THE FEMALE FOOTBALLERS IN 2008 |
It will be recalled
that “Rock City Queens”, left Jos on
21st December, 2008 to Shendam, venue of the Plateau State First
Lady Female Football Competition among the 17 LGAs of the state. During their
homeward journey that evening, tragedy struck as the J5 bus conveying the
players had a head-on collision with a Golf car and burst into flames.
Of
the six occupants in the Golf car, only one survived, and of the 18 passengers
in the J5 bus conveying the players, 12 were roasted to ashes, including 12-year-old
Na’omi John, their coach, Ganiyu and his assistant Khalid Yero. Others included
Augustina Kenneth, Catherine Okpoko, Happiness Primus, Mary Shom, Comfort Agwu,
Vicky Joseph, Angela Utuka, Mercy Uwandu and Jummai Ishaku.
The then governor of
the state, Pastor Jonah David Jang, his wife, Ngo Talatu (on whose behalf the
tournament was organized) and the authority of Jos North Local Government which
the lads represented, all made earth-shaking promises during the mass burial of
these children. Of significance was the directive by Jang that parents of the
deceased should see him at Government House, Rayfield, but there the story
ended.
All efforts of these
parents to see Jang or his spouse Talatu proved abortive. The parents of the
children have been molested, mocked at and insulted even by some government
officials over the years. Some of the parents recalled with dismay a particular
incident when a government official told them that they were behaving as if
they were the first parents to lose their children.
Those who spoke to African Drum condemned the attitude of
the government, adding that a nation cannot be built without adequate care and
concern for the youths, especially those that have volunteered to serve their
fatherland. The attitude of the government was further described as barbaric,
inhuman and uncultured.
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