Grief-stricken residents of Angwan Rimi village in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State have cried out for urgent government intervention after the Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital allegedly suspended treatment for children and other victims of a recent bandit attack due to mounting unpaid bills.
Community leaders, Barnabas Chinge and Comrade Raphael Joshua, in an open letter to Governor Uba Sani, said the August 24 night raid left seven villagers dead, scores wounded, and dozens of families homeless.
According to the leaders, the attackers stormed the agrarian community in the dead of night, shooting sporadically, burning houses, and looting food supplies and livestock.
“Our children remain in pain and we can no longer afford their treatment. So far, we have spent over N500,000 on drugs and cannot buy more,” the letter read in part.
The victims were initially stabilised at the Federal Medical Centre, Kafanchan, before being transferred to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for advanced care.
However, treatment reportedly halted after an initial deposit of N500,000 paid by Kauru council chairman, Bashir Tanko Dawaki, was exhausted, leaving an outstanding bill of over N400,000.
A letter from the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. A. Musa Tabari, to the council chairman and dated September 1, 2025, requested an additional deposit of N1 million to continue treatment.
The letter, titled “Retirement of Expenditure on the Donation of N500,000 to Bandit Attack Victims in Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital and Request for Top Up,” confirmed that the hospital had already run into a deficit of N415,950 on the victims’ care.
The distressed community thanked Senator Sunday Marshall Katung, House of Representatives member Muktar Zakari Chawai, and Kaduna lawmaker Haruna Barnabas Danmaigona for assisting with burial expenses of the deceased.
They, however, pleaded with Governor Uba Sani to urgently settle the hospital bill and direct the resumption of treatment for the surviving victims, especially children still battling life-threatening injuries.
As of press time, neither the Kaduna State Government nor the management of Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital had responded to the villagers’ SOS.
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