Her home was being burnt down. Scores of armed men were pouring petrol everywhere, smashing the skulls of dogs. She ran 400 yards down the road to flee from a machete-wielding mob, who were firing gunshots behind.
They chased her to a neighbour's room. Pulled her down the wardrobe and started hacking her, aiming to split her skull, which she protected with her arms. They butchered her arms like a cow's thigh on a butcher's table.
Slashed her legs as she sought to escape Leaving her for dead, as blood splashed all over her attackers, one inserted a metal bar inside her private parts, swearing his stars for not having the privacy to cause more sexual damage.
This is the story of Sadia Seidu, a victim of the recent clashes in Tamale, who is currently receiving treatment at the 37 Military Hospital.
All in all, she received more than 20 cuts, to her arms and legs. Worse still, she said she indentified her butcher (a neighbour) and the man who allegedly gave the command that her head must be split into two, is her best friend's brother.
Yet, over a month since her attack on February 18, the suspects are still walking the streets of Tamale.
That, unfortunately, has been the underlining story of the ethno-political conflict in Dagbon. Can this cycle of violence, which in the past never involved innocent mothers, be broken?
