Spinal chord injury accident victim, Bright Chilaka risks paralysis, death for lack of N3.5m surgery fee

For the family of Mr and Mrs Bright and Ijeoma Chilaka with their only child Chizaram, the Sunday June 29th 2025 was like every other happy Sunday until the ugly incident of that which threw them into a pathetic situation, leaving the entire family devasted and dependent on humanitarian Nigerians for help as the eyes of a maiden look upon the hands of her mistress.

At present, Bright is in need of the sum of N3.5 million which he can never generate from sources available to him for deposit at Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital to facilitate his early undergoing of spinal chord surgery critical to salvaging him from the glaring paralysis resulting from the accident.

Indeed, Bright now stands the risk of paralysis if he wastes further time in undergoing the prescribed surgery that will enable the medical experts at Igbobi Orthopaedic Hospital where he is currently lying critically ill at male ward E spinal cord department to fix his neck bone.

Bright who hails from Otulu Omuma in Ezinihite LGA, Mbaise, Imo state was admitted at the hospital on Monday June 30th, 2025 because he was involved in a ghastly motor accident at Oshodi on his way to his sister’s church for an invitation for a special prayer session with the church pastor.

According to his wife, Ijeoma Chilaka, the vehicle he boarded from Mile 2 to Oshodi had head-on collision with another incoming vehicle. While some passengers died on the spot, Bright was lucky to survive but not without sustaining serious injury in his spinal chord areas as a result of shift on his neck bone.

The result of the two X-rays he had showed that there was a major shift in his neck bone and an urgent surgery needed to be done to fix back the neck bone.

But before the surgery will be conducted, he is being required to deposit over N2.5 million and pay for prescribed drugs estimated to cost over N1 million. Without this amount, nothing will be done until the money is paid.

According to his wife, because of his inability to pay the stated amount, nothing has been done to him since June 30th when he was admitted at the hospital.The only treatment he is currently receiving pain killer drugs to momentarily relief him of pains.

Meanwhile medical experts attending to him said he runs risk of paralysis if the surgery is not done within a short time.

Please, he can be reached on 08034453199. Their account details are: 2218664328, Zenith Bank, Ijeoma H. Chilaka; 3461002049, ECO Bank, Ijeoma H Chilaka

Below is a conversation with his wife on her husband’s issue:

Q: Good evening madam, what brought you to this hospital?

Ans: My husband had accident on 29th June at Oshodi road.

Q: With his own vehicle or what?

Ans: No, we don’t have any motor. He entered a (venagon) bus going to Oshodi to see his sister who invited him to come so that his pastor will pray for him during the church service because of the court case he has the following week.

Q: Did you say court case which court case?

My husband worked as a gate man who gives ticket to vehicles carrying goods in and out of the auto parts market, Trade fair Lagos. The standard Organisation of Nigeria (Son ) came to arrest adulterated oil sellers in the market. All the sellers some of who are members of United Allied Machine Parts Dealers ran away including security men on duty on that day but my husband who came to resume duty that day was not aware of anything happening in the market that day. He innocently resumed his duty only to be arrested by SON security agents who came to raid the place and was put in police cell. He entered the police cell on December 23, 2021 and was released on July 1st 2022.

Initially after his arrest he was released one week after and taken to court, in the court, he said he was not guilty because he did not know anything about the adulterated oil since he is just a gate man and ticketer at the entrance gate.

So they rearrested him, sent him back to cell and in the process the court workers went on strike and all efforts to bring him out was in vain until July when the workers resumed.

Q: What happened to the real dealers of the adulterated oil I meant the association who are part of the people in the market he was working for?

Ans : They all ran away on hearing that SON stationed its staff in the market so it was only my husband and one boy from Benue his name is Vandal Lube who just came to serve one of them two months before the incident.

Q :While in the cell did the association do anything to set him free?

Ans : initially they pretended they wanted to help but when the lawyer defending the case gave his bill, they ran away .

So they abandoned my husband and none of the other associations in the market whom he was working for came to his rescue because they said their own line of business was not involved in the case as they are dealing on legal businesses. So he was attending to the court with his own lawyer .

Since then the court has been adjourning the case as sometimes when he goes, SON people will not come. But my husband is eager to see the case ended so that he will be free . At his last appearance in the court, the SON staff who saw him said “but this is not the right person it has been confirmed that this is just a gate man and ticketer in the market.”

It was because of this statement that my husband started praying that since the people involved have found out the truth God should please discharge the case. So that Sunday, his younger sister invited him to her church so that her pastor will pray for him in the church service for the case to be discharged in his next appearance in the court on Mon July 7th which is the next date the court gave him.

It was on his way to the church that the accident occurred.

Q: So how did you get to know he had accident?

Ans: I and my child, chizaram came back from church that day about to have our lunch when a vehicle blew horn at the gate and when the neighbours in the compound opened the gate I saw a sienna car coming in with back and stopped in front of my apartment and when I piped inside, I saw my husband and the sister. I thought it was a small problem only to discover he cannot even stand and they had to carry him inside the house.

My sister in-law said having waited and did not see him in church she called his number and somebody picked the call and informed her that the owner of the phone was involved in accident and was unconscious. So she rushed there and a good Samaritan has to bring them back to me.

Q: Now that you are at Igbobi and they called this money which you said you don’t have what is your next line of action to get the surgery done ?

Ans; I don’t knowooo

Q: Since you were here have they been treating him?

They are giving him drugs to calm the pain since that 30th we came here nothing again. They said the main thing is the surgery and that the money should be paid before he will go to the theatre.

Q: So what about his relations?

Ans: They don’t have anything. The little I and them have, we used it to run tests and X-ray. We have spent more than 600,000 to buy drugs, do the X-ray and to calm his pain.

Q: What about your village meeting have you contacted them?

Ans: Yes but what they brought is N500, 000 but you can see that we are still far from N3.5 million and my fear is that they said the surgery is urgent and doctor said if I don’t do fast the leg and hands will paralyze.

Q: So what are you doing now and what about the church?

My church is a very small church but I am still expecting

Q: So what are you saying now?

I am begging Nigerians to please come to my rescue to help me raise this money to pay so that more time will not be wasted and my husband will not be paralyzed.

Nigerians, my brothers and sisters, my fellow Nigerians, please come to my rescue and save my husband from this danger. Please my people please help us.

Q: Where are you from?

Ans: I am from Imo state

Q: Which part of Imo state?

Otulu Amuma in Ezinihite LGA , Mbaise, Imo state.

Their only 11 year old child Chzaram, said her worst pain is that her daddy cannot attend her graduation party coming up on July 27th.

She said because of her excellent performance in her common entrance examination, her father had promised to buy new cloth for her graduation and to come and snap pictures with her.

She is also crying that her mother said because of her father’s problem she will not follow her mates to enter secondary school in September and she has to wait till next year.

But Chizaram in the midst of her tears said she knows God will help her father.

Please, he can be reached on 08034453199. Their account details are: 2218664328, Zenith Bank, Ijeoma H. Chilaka; 3461002049, ECO Bank, Ijeoma H Chilaka.