Photos: Man and his son brutally attacked by 'area boys' in Sokoto State

Residents of Gidan Hakki, Meniyo, Nufawa and Makeran Assada in the Sokoto North local government area of Sokoto state are living in perpetual fear of attack by a group of youth notoriously referred to as "area boys"

According to Daily Trust, the hoodlums attacked and robbed residents of the area, they spare nobody, including minors, leaving behind gory scenes and sad tales of horror.

Residents said the thugs capitalize on the lack of a police station in the area to enforce law and order, and the many escape routes through which they vanish from the crime scenes into other neighbourhood.

Mustapha Makera had just returned from Dala orthopaedic hospital where he underwent a surgery to treat his leg which was broken due to an accident he was involved in last year when he and his son were attacked. The attack left Mustapha and his son wounded due to machete attacks he received from the hoodlums all over his body and that of his son whom he shielded from more attacks. The hoodlums also tempered with the broken leg when they tried to loose the equipments used to aid the treatment which resulted to the undoing of the whole operation.

Narrating his ordeal, Makera, said he was lying outside his residence because of the hot weather when he observed people running for safety but he could not run because of his broken leg.

"I sighted a group of about 30 youths armed with dangerous weapons around 9pm last week Wednesday. Some of them came to where I was lying, trying to remove the implant and the plaster-of-Paris on my leg. As I looked up, I was dealt a machete blow on my forehead, resulting in a deep cut. At the time, there was my eight-year-old son sitting by my side who they pounced on with sticks and machetes. I tried to protect him by bending over him and in the process got another cut at the back of my head which would have otherwise hit the boy, yet he sustained injury at the back of his head," Makera said.

He added that the miscreants stole items like handsets, laptops and other valuables left behind by the fleeing residents and shopkeepers, which they threw into sacks they had brought along with them. Makera said the attack has affected his leg and resulted in further complication that may warrant resetting of the bone, which his doctor said could cost N200,000.

Following his appeal for assistance from the state government as he said he doesn’t have any money to pay for the resetting, wife of the state Governor, Hajiya Maryam Mairo Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who is also the founder of MMAWT legacy initiatives, sent her aides to locate Mustapha and pledge her commitment to take over the case and foot the bills of his treatment and that of his son.

"We are happy to report that her Excellency Hajiya Maryam has since pledged to settle the bills already incurred and has also ordered her aides to facilitate the admission of Mustapha at the Sokoto state Orthopedic hospital, Wamakko" a statement from the governor' wife said.

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