Tragedy struck Saturday afternoon when a pregnant woman, Shamsiya Ibrahim, slumped and died while waiting to vote in the presidential and National Assembly elections in Zamfara State.
A family source told PREMIUM TIMES by phone that Mrs Ibrahim was six months pregnant and had complained of pain immediately after she arrived at the polling unit in the Hadejawa area of Tsafe Town.
She was said to be an indigene of Tsafe but married in Kotorkoshi.
Mrs Ibrahim arrived at the polling unit around 1:48 p.m.
“When the car that brought them from Kotorkoshi dropped them, she complained that she was feeling a sharp pain in the lower part of her stomach,” a witness said. “The other women in the queue asked her to quickly go forward and have herself accredited so she could vote but as she was waiting for the person already being accredited, she slumped.”
“We rushed towards her but she was breathing heavily. We then rushed her to the General Hospital,” a woman, who only gave her name as Mommy, and was also in queue during the incident.”
Mrs Ibrahim was confirmed dead by the nurse on duty at the General Hospital Tsafe and has since been buried according to Islamic rites in Tsafe.