"I don't regret losing my eye while fighting them" - Graphic Artist who got partially Blind while challenging Armed Robbers

A 28-year-old Graphic Artist from Edo State, Abdulrazak Badamasi, popularly known as Ray, has said he doesn't regret facing a gang of armed robbers, even though it had cost him something eternal.

The victim, who claimed to be the forth of six children in the family, said he's a graduate of Pure and Applies Chemistry from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria; an Edo State indigene based in Abuja.

Narrating the incident to Temitope Adetunji of the PUNCH, he said the incident had happened on the 3rd of March, 2022, in their house along Winners Way Dawaki, Abuja, after the gang arrived at 3 AM.

He claimed to have heard their tenant screaming, and when he unknowingly opened the security door to check what was amiss, he was met by about 10 machete men in the compound, each having a machete at hand.

Upon sighting him, one of them rushed at him and aimed for his face, but he was able to dodge and weave the attack, before getting back inside and shut the door. While he made his way to his family, the robbers tackled the door violently, and even after his dad had asked them what they wanted and they claimed nothing, they continued with the door.

One of the gang members had later said to him through the window that "You dey form strong, if I enter this house, I go kill you". This made him impinged and he claimed to had made a dua (supplication) after that, by praying to God forgive him of his sins.

His Dad had attempted to open the door, believing they wouldn't do him any harm for he was an old man. But Razak and the rest of the family had restricted him and held him down. Unfortunately, the robbers made their way in.

Speaking further, he said;

They were able to get in and started attacking me with a machete. I struggled with them and took hold of one of their machetes. I started fighting back. I was able to push back the three robbers that were attacking me. Getting to the compound, I saw that the robbers were actually more than just three guys that broke into the house. I started feeling that they would kill me. So, I fought desperately. In the process, one of them hacked my face with a machete. The machete hit me directly on the right eye. I fell down and they continued hitting me while I was helpless. A voice from within told me to lie still and close my eyes. I did, so they left me after a while and went into the house

They got to my room, took all my work tools, laptop, iPad, iPhone, android, and smart wristwatch. They took all the gadgets along with their chargers. They also took away my backpack containing N50,000 cash and a couple of my clothes. About 6:15 AM that same day, they cleared out my two bank accounts. They also borrowed from Opay, using my logging details and opening an account with First Bank by using my BVN

The attack caused a lot of damage to Razak; the right eye went blind completely. The only remedy as stated by his doctors was to get an artificial or prosthetic eye, and his would require a facial adjustment, totaling to a sum of N450,000. He also lost a job at a company named Chupezng, who employed someone else and paid higher for the role they were giving him something less.

When asked how he felt about challenging the robbers, he said;