In the wake of student demonstrations
Bullet removed from kid's head
By Alhagie Mbye
Three-year-old nursery school pupil Musa Sembene is currently recovering in a Dakar hospital from a bullet wound in his head allegedly caused by a shot from an unidentified soldier during the 10th April student demonstrations.
According to Ousman Sembene, father of the boy, Musa is still receiving treatment at the Abass Ndaw Hospital in Dakar, Senegal where he was taken a few days after the shooting.
Mr Sembene told The Independent that Musa was shot in the head at around 1pm on the 10th April, whilst he (Musa) was inside his compound in Serrekunda, London Corner during the heat of the unrest. He explained that after Musa was hit he collapsed on the spot and passed out. Mr Sembene said his son was then rushed to the Serrekunda Clinic, where an ambulance sped him to the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Mr Sembene, who looked forlorn and worried as he recounted the incident, said doctors at the RVH confirmed that Musa was shot with live ammunition and needed to be admitted. He added that after three days, with Musa still in a coma, a doctor advised him to seek better treatment abroad, since the RVH did not have the required equipment to extract the bullet lodged in Musa's head. 'The doctor advised me that Dakar was the nearest place where the operation to extract the bullet could be successfully conducted,' he explained.
Mr. Sembene said he then acquired air tickets for Musa's mother and a nurse to go to Dakar. He said he also made arrangements for an ambulance to collect them at the airport in Dakar and transport them to the Hospital Principal where Musa was admitted.
According to Mr. Sembene, after 10 days at the hospital, Musa was transferred to the Abass Ndaw Hospital where the bullet was finally removed. 'I was asked to go back to Dakar where the bullet was handed over to me,' he said.
According to a medical report, the bullet is 26.13mm long, 7.14mm thick, and weighs 7.91grams.
Mr. Sembene was advised by the Senegalese doctors to leave his son in hospital for a few days in order to give them time to find out whether any other damage had occurred. However, he said, Musa was now responding to treatment and recovering well.
Musa's case was carried as a front-page headline in the Senegalese Pop Daily newspaper on 22nd April. Walfadjri, a private radio station, also reported on Musa Sembene's situation. A number of people in Senegal have since denounced the security forces' handling of the student unrest.
Back home, residents in Serrekunda London Corner have expressed dismay over the shooting of the three-year-old nursery school boy describing it as 'a deliberate and heartless attack.'
One elderly woman in the area said that she could not understand why the security forces would want to shoot at a three-year-old boy. 'I call it deliberate and heartless because I know the Sembene family for their respect and kindness and see no reason why one of them should be targeted,' she said angrily.
Musa's father said he had tried to report his son's case to the Coroner's Inquest but was told that the inquest was confined to hearing evidence on matters relating only to those who died and not those who suffered injuries.
One resident however, reasoned that the three-year-old boy could have been the victim of a stray bullet. 'I don't think they would deliberately shoot at a nursery school kid,' he reasoned.
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