thing is that the doctor said that I need to get to a specialist hospital where they can handle the matter. Theycannot handle itâ, Wellington said after having a relative assist him in showing me the worst of the bedsores as he lay on his mattress. âI was spending money and I was not getting anything. I was spending my salary on treatment and drugs, and a few individuals, my friends, assisted me with money.â
He had also not regained any sensation in his legs and decided he should try to return to India, but to do so, he would have to raise thousands more dollars. While he was still in the clinic, a delegation from the ministry of health visited on a routine tour of private hospitals and were taken to meet Wellington. After hearing his story, they introduced him to newspaper journalists, who wrote stories on his plight. Features appeared in June 2013, including in two of Nigeriaâs largest newspapers, along with his contact information in hopes of donations. They ran pictures of him lying in his hospital bed alongside an older photo of him dressed sharply and standing proudly in his ceremonial uniform, taken at the police college in Jos in 2009. A headline in Nigeriaâs Guardian paper bluntly declared âBoko Haram victim, ASP Wellington, dying graduallyâ, while another in ThisDay newspaper said he was âDying to save Nigeriaâ. According to Wellington, police officials again looked into his case after the stories appeared, contacting him by phone and paying him a visit, but he did not see any results. He was still receiving his monthly police salary, but he told me he was unable to access any insurance money.
Back at home in Warri, he sought herbal treatments for his bedsores, but they did not seem to do much good. He couldnât remember exactly what herbs were used when I asked him. Family members were caring for him when I got back in touch with him in September 2013. His wife was not there, and he declined to discuss why. I found out later that he and his wife had split, with different reasons offered by her and Wellingtonâs brother. There was also an odd discrepancy in the number of children I was told he had, and he had begged off when I asked him about his kids in Warri. I had noted when speaking to him in the hospital after the attack thathe said he had five children, but his brother and wife told me later he had one son. 4
After visiting with him in Warri and returning to Lagos, where I was based at the time, I began making phone calls to try to find out if his case was being attended to by someone in government. I exchanged text messages with the minister for special duties, who was in charge of organising help for Boko Haram victims, providing him with Wellingtonâs details. I spoke to someone in the health ministry, who told me that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had been put in charge of victimsâ assistance. I called that agencyâs spokesman and explained the situation, and he informed me that Wellington would have to submit an application. As a result, I asked Wellingtonâs brother to send me a letter explaining the circumstances. He did so and also emailed a letter from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where he was first treated, and a copy of one of the newspaper articles on him. I then forwarded the documents to a colleague in Abuja, who agreed to deliver the paperwork in person to the NEMA spokesman. The spokesman later confirmed to me he had received the documents and would look into it.
Months passed and there was no response. Wellingtonâs brother contacted me a number of times to find out if I had made any progress. In February 2014, I called the NEMA spokesman and asked about the file. He remembered me, as well as our previous exchange, and told me he was unable to find out anything about Wellington. I told him I did not understand his response since the reason for providing him with the documents was to initiate action.
He had also not regained any sensation in his legs and decided he should try to return to India, but to do so, he would have to raise thousands more dollars. While he was still in the clinic, a delegation from the ministry of health visited on a routine tour of private hospitals and were taken to meet Wellington. After hearing his story, they introduced him to newspaper journalists, who wrote stories on his plight. Features appeared in June 2013, including in two of Nigeriaâs largest newspapers, along with his contact information in hopes of donations. They ran pictures of him lying in his hospital bed alongside an older photo of him dressed sharply and standing proudly in his ceremonial uniform, taken at the police college in Jos in 2009. A headline in Nigeriaâs Guardian paper bluntly declared âBoko Haram victim, ASP Wellington, dying graduallyâ, while another in ThisDay newspaper said he was âDying to save Nigeriaâ. According to Wellington, police officials again looked into his case after the stories appeared, contacting him by phone and paying him a visit, but he did not see any results. He was still receiving his monthly police salary, but he told me he was unable to access any insurance money.
Back at home in Warri, he sought herbal treatments for his bedsores, but they did not seem to do much good. He couldnât remember exactly what herbs were used when I asked him. Family members were caring for him when I got back in touch with him in September 2013. His wife was not there, and he declined to discuss why. I found out later that he and his wife had split, with different reasons offered by her and Wellingtonâs brother. There was also an odd discrepancy in the number of children I was told he had, and he had begged off when I asked him about his kids in Warri. I had noted when speaking to him in the hospital after the attack thathe said he had five children, but his brother and wife told me later he had one son. 4
After visiting with him in Warri and returning to Lagos, where I was based at the time, I began making phone calls to try to find out if his case was being attended to by someone in government. I exchanged text messages with the minister for special duties, who was in charge of organising help for Boko Haram victims, providing him with Wellingtonâs details. I spoke to someone in the health ministry, who told me that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had been put in charge of victimsâ assistance. I called that agencyâs spokesman and explained the situation, and he informed me that Wellington would have to submit an application. As a result, I asked Wellingtonâs brother to send me a letter explaining the circumstances. He did so and also emailed a letter from Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where he was first treated, and a copy of one of the newspaper articles on him. I then forwarded the documents to a colleague in Abuja, who agreed to deliver the paperwork in person to the NEMA spokesman. The spokesman later confirmed to me he had received the documents and would look into it.
Months passed and there was no response. Wellingtonâs brother contacted me a number of times to find out if I had made any progress. In February 2014, I called the NEMA spokesman and asked about the file. He remembered me, as well as our previous exchange, and told me he was unable to find out anything about Wellington. I told him I did not understand his response since the reason for providing him with the documents was to initiate action.
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