‘’Are you dead now’’ ?
The above comment was a response by Abolore to Chinelo’s tweet that she had been shot by terrorists.
Terrorists attacked a Kaduna-bound train in Northern Nigeria on Monday, 25 March,2022
The train left Abuja, the Nigerian capital, at about 6:00 p.m. and was heading to Kaduna when it was attacked between Katari and Rijana communities.
The exact number of passengers could not be ascertained as there seemed not to be any credible manifest for the trip.
The terrorists planted explosives on the train track and immobilized it before firing gunshots at passengers as they tried to open the doors.
Both the Kaduna State Government and the Nigeria Railway Corporation have confirmed the attack.
One of the passengers of that ill-fated train was a young female medical doctor who was working with St Gerald’s Catholic Hospital in Kaduna under the administration of Reverend Sister Beatrice Danladi, helping patients resolve challenges with dentition.
She tweeted from the train ,informing the world that she and other travellers had been bombed by terrorists and, that she had also been shot and was bleeding. She had asked her compatriots to pray for her.
Here is the tweet asking for prayers. Apparently aware that Nigerians must have heard the news ,she tweeed from her handle,@nelo_x :
“I’m on the train. I have been shot. Please pray for me.”
Nigeria twitter space was already agog with the nes of the terrorist attack and many people were worried about their friends and family who had travelled via that route so,people were interested in the news.
Shockingly ,and to the utter disappointment of millions of Nigerians ,the tweet above was greeted by a barrage of negative comments ,abuses and even death wishes from some Nigerians.
Here are some of the internet bullies and how other people reacted to their hateful and vile tweets :
Are You Dead Now?
This very insensitive and inhuman response seemed to have been the first under that tweet by a guy named Abolore with a twitter handle @ysone2
One underlying factor that connects some of the wicked and cruel tweets you will see here is very rabid and unquestionable support for the the person of the president,not the country or her citizens.
Another user ,Iyabo Awokoya ,a supporter of the government and who refers to herself as a ‘Buharist’ dismissed Chinelo’s cry for help and called her a liar. This is her twitter handle @iyaboawokoya which she had locked since some patriotic Nigerians started calling her out for her insensitivity and sycophancy owing to her allegiance to the president
A user,ABD known as @ishakaa doubted her cry ,taunted her and asked if she was traveling to Biafra through Kaduna
Some of them doubted her claim,same @ishakaa saw her as being desperate to embarrass the government. To these group of people,known as members of the BMC (Buhari Media Center) guys- a media outfit launched to launder the image of the pesident and the ruling party,everything is about politics and any complaints by citizens ,nomatter how genuine,is seen by them as a plot to discredit Buhari and the ruling party,which many Nigerians see as having performed abysmally below expectations.
One of the core supporters of the clueless government, known as Gbenga Olorunpomi ,@gbengagold also callously dismissed Chinelo’s cry for help as an attack on the government.
This man had hoped and longed to be appointed a youth leader, unfortunately, he was trashed at the last minute and he wept like a toddler on live television.
Some people wished she was actually shot.That was what a user known as Rasheed Ayo and Haidar Ahmaad with handle @RASHEED_AYO did.
He wasn’t alone
There were many of them in that BMC group who wished she was dead. And,it wasn’t just because they felt that her tweet embarrassed the government,her ethnicity was also a factor. To these men and women,she was not supposed to say such a thing,being someone from her part of the country.
Some of the people deliberately doubted her and wondered how someone who was shot could have time to type.They feigned ignorance of the reality that people who were shot could even make calls for emergency depending on the site of injury.
While some people chose to be outrageously insensitive to a dying young woman,there were many Nigerians from across the country who behaved like human beings,sent out some words of encouragement and prayers ,and somehow made her read something soothing ,and gave her some hope before she closed her eyes forever.
It was the most criticalpoint of her life ,a point when she saw herself on the border between life nd death.The least she asked for was simple prayers and not abuses by some trolls and internet demons.
We hope that she was able to read a few of the beautiful comments by sincere ,compassionate compatriots before she gave up her spirit.
