Maroua: Bereaved families remain in poverty

Sadness, dismay, contemplation and instability were the impressions observed after contacting families who lost some of their relatives in the kamikaze attack at Pont Vert in Maroua on July 25.

The L’Œil du Sahel journal, in its Thursday, July 30, 2015 edition, stated that they met with the relatives of a deceased, Amadou Siddi, aged 31 and a father of two children. He had told his children: “I am going to buy you oranges”.

The journal recounted the demonstration by Siddi Haman, the elder brother of the deceased: "his children waited so eagerly for his return. He had already bought the oranges. It was when he was returning that the explosion occurred. He was immediately buried in the aftermath of his death according to Muslim tradition. Amadou Siddi’s departure has left a void.

His brother continued: "we get a lot of people who come to express their condolences. But we have no money to offer them something to eat. On the seventh day of his death, it is customary to arrange a funeral. But in the light of the situation of our family, I see that this event will really weigh on us."

50m from Siddi’s house, the family of a deceased baker, Zeba Ndjidda, also mourned their loss. His wife, Céline Isabo, revealed how he headed towards the Pont Vert District. "He went there to buy tablets and was in a hurry to return home to rest, after having spent a night and a day at work. He had to resume the next day at 5 am.

The widow added: "in our neighborhood, if there is not enough drinks and food at a place of mourning, the turnout is always very poor.”

It is in this light that the family were virtually left on their own to mourn their loss.

For two brothers, Djibrilla Ngouloumna, a guard, and Makisia, orange seller, "it was a tsunami", according to the reporter.

At Pitoare district, a relative of the Fedama Kelevene family called ‘Fami’ died with his wife, Djebba Timedé. His wife had joined him at his work place for lunch.

“Before eating, they decided to go to Pont Vert to take some juice while waiting. That is how they were caught in the explosion,” noted Fandaï Zaïgaï, brother of the deceased.

In his case, the regional delegation of public health where he worked, "presented two coffins, one bag of rice, litres of cooking oil and other ingredients as an aid for the organisation of the funeral,” reported the newspaper.