A young man from Edo State, Idris Badamasi, tells TEMITOPE ADETUNJI how he lost one eye after standing up to armed robbers who invaded his family house
Please tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Idris Abdulrazak Badamasi, aka Ray. I am the fourth child of six children, we are all males. I am 28 years old. I am a graduate of Pure and Applied Chemistry from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. I am from Edo State, Owan East but I am based in Abuja.
In a recent social media post, you wrote that your life changed drastically after a robbery attack in 2022. Can you narrate what happened?
The incident happened on March 3, 2022 in our house on Winners Way Dawaki, Abuja. The robbers came around 3am. I heard our tenant screaming.The screams were strange; unknown to me the house was being raided by robbers. I opened the security door, and saw about 10 guys in the compound. They had machetes in their hands. As soon as I opened the door, one of them rushed at me. He aimed for my face with the machete in his hand but I was able to quickly dodge and ran back inside while I slammed the door shut immediately and locked it. I alerted everyone at home that there were robbers in the compound. The robbers started banging heavily on the door, trying to break in. As they were trying to break down the door, my dad was asking them what they wanted, so he could give them, but they said nothing and kept trying to force their way in. At that point, we knew it wasn’t a normal robbery attack.
One of the robbers later said through the window that, “You dey form strong, if I enter this house I go kill you”. After hearing those words, I felt I was going to die regardless, so I made a dua (supplication) to God, telling Him to forgive my sin as I would be joining Him soon. They were still trying to force the door open and threatening to shoot, but I wasn’t sure if they had guns.
Hearing them talking about shooting, I told my dad to leave the door, so he would not get injured being an old man. But my dad refused and insisted to be at the door, as we tried to push back. Later, I was able to persuade him to leave the door to me. After a while, the pressure from the robbers getting too much for me and I was losing strength. Soo after, they hit the door and it fell down completely.
They were able to get in and started attacking me with a machete. I struggled with them and took hold of one their machetes. I started fighting back. I was able to push back the three robbers that were attacking me. Getting to the compound, I saw that the robbers were actually more than just three guys that broke into the house.
I started feeling that they would kill me, so, I fought desperately. In the process, one of them hacked my face with a machete. The machete hit me directly on the right eye. I fell down and they continued hitting me while I was helpless. A voice from within told me to lie still and close my eyes. I did, so they left me after a while and went into the house.
What happened afterwards?
They got to my room, took all my work tools, laptop,iPad, iPhone, android, and smart wristwatch. They took all the gadgets along with their chargers. They also took away my backpack containing N50,000 cash and a couple of my clothes. About at 6:15am that same day, they cleared out my two bank accounts. They also borrowed from Opay, using my logging details and opening an account with the First Bank with my BVN.
I was brutally attacked with machetes all over my body, including my head and face. This situation changed my life as I now have to adapt to a monocular vision for the rest of my life, a constant reminder that it could have been worse, the shock and trauma, and so on but I know things happen for a reason and I’m still alive and pushing…so Alhamdulillah
Were you taken to the hospital immediately after the attack?
Yes, we went to two hospitals. The first hospital rejected me; they said my case was too serious for them to handle. We then left for Kubwa General Hospital in Abuja.
What did the doctor tell you when you got to the hospital?
Being an emergency, they opted for a blood transfusion because I had lost a lot of blood. Later, they said my heart was okay enough to pump blood. They stitched my wounds, and drips were administered. On the second day when the doctor did some examination, it was discovered that my right eye that was hit had become completely blind. I couldn’t see with it. I went to other hospitals to seek solution, but they all said the eye had gone bad.
Did the doctors say that there was no remedy for the lost eye?
The doctors told me the only remedy was to have an artificial or prosthetic eye to fit and complete my looks. But prosthetics are pretty expensive and mine comes with facial adjustment procedures which is even more expensive. I was told it will cost about N450,000.
How did you feel realising that you had lost the eye?
It was devastating. At the time, I was working for a company named Chupezng; I was handling their social media design post and also 3D designs for the website. The job came through a close friend at the time. But after the incident I was replaced. My friend told me that they replaced me with a team they offered more pay for the same job I did for less.
How did your family cope with that situation?
They were very devastated and sad about the issue. It took weeks, if not months, for everyone to come to terms with the whole thing. It’s quite sad.
When were you discharged from the hospital?
It was on the same day of the attack but I had to be going back for wound dressing and checkups.
I got a lot of support from my closest friend, Godwin; my flag football team (Abuja mavericks) and AFFL (Abuja Flag Football League), my university classmates, family friends, and people who knew me partly.
How have you been coping with life after the incident?
It’s been rough financially, mentally, and emotionally but as said in the Qur’an “Allah doesn’t burden a soul with that which is greater than it can bear”.
What do you do for a living currently?
I’m a creative designer and 3D artist; I design for a living, currently running my freelance design studio.
Do you regret standing up to the robbers?
Why should one regret trying to protect his family? I don’t regret a single action I took that night.
