An 11-year-old boy, Fred Levi, has been orphaned by suspected herdsmen in two separate attacks on his Shaforon Village under Numan Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The traumatised orphan now lives with memories of rattling gunfire and gory images of how both of his parents were murdered in cold blood one year apart by yet to be apprehended herdsmen.
Levi, who himself survived the early Sunday morning attack with bullet wounds on his right thigh, tearfully recounted how his father fell to the unprovoked bullet of the invaders.
He said, “When the attackers came, my father took me by the hand so we could escape through the bush but they fired gunshots at us and my father fell.
“I was also shot in the leg but managed to hide in the overgrown bushes.
“After a while, the attackers were repelled, then I heard familiar voices searching for the dead or wounded, then I cried out for help.”
His uncle, Habila Nahangi, recalled how barely a year ago in a similar incursion, the young boy watched his mother being killed.
Besides Levi’s woeful plight as a village orphan, Minta Kingsley, a nursing mother, is another victim of the attack.
She is currently being managed with multiple bone fracture, according to Dr Nuhu Tari of Numan General hospital.
Shaforon and Kodumti, both under Numan Local Government Area, have experienced about six attacks in the past three years and lost more than 40 people, with property destroyed.
Chairman of the local government council, Nathaniel Haningyi, said, “The worst would have happened but for the timely response of security operatives.”
The reality for Levi though, is that the worst has happened, having not only been orphaned but also battling to save his right leg.
