Ogechi, Nyanya blast victim, dies ‘in pains’

Ogechi Emeto — the victim of the May 1 Nyanya bomb blast whose mother recently cried out for government help — has died.

On Monday during TheCable’s routine check on the Emeto family for updates on the 15-year-old’s medical progress, the family revealed that she died on June 12 of the severe burns and multiple fractures she sustained during the blast.

On May 17 when TheCable first reported her critical condition, she was at the intensive care unit of the Asokoro General Hospital, Abuja.

Her mother, who called on the government and Nigerians to come to her aid at the time, expressed regrets that help did not come for the dying girl, who has since been buried in her hometown in Anambra State.

“I thought the government would help and take her abroad for treatment,” a tearful Mrs. Love Emeto told TheCable.

“She died in pains. My daughter suffered before she died. I thought Nigerians would help us.”

Ogechi’s cousin, a medical doctor, said that her condition deteriorated after a major surgery to fix her broken arm.

“She was fine for a while. Then, after the surgery, she started vomiting and needed oxygen machine to breathe,” he said.

“Her condition deteriorated further and on Thursday, June 12, she died after suffering much pain.”

The Emeto family had pleaded with the government to sponsor their daughter abroad for superlative medical care, considering the severity of her case.

Mrs. Emeto had cried out that she could not afford such expensive care, as she has been struggling to raise her children since the death of their father six months after Ogechi’s birth.

TheCable witnessed her heart-rending pains at the Asokoro hospital, where Oge — traumatised by severe burns all over her body and  multiple fractures in the arm and leg, intermittently sent chilling screams of pain that pierced through the sealed doors of the intensive care unit to the verandah where her family gathered.