Touching: How Poverty and Lack of a Job Made a Teenager to Set Himself on Fire

Protest against poverty in Gaza

The first thought that will come to the mind of a Nigerian upon hearing this sad story is: “could this possibly happen in Nigeria?” The story is that of a Palestinian teenager who has died after setting himself ablaze in the Gaza Strip.

The teen, Ehab Abu Nada, 18, was said to have taken this action apparently in protest against the economic hardship in his country. The was the report according to members of his family and the police. He was said to have left his home on Thursday after an argument with his father, who had urged him to find work to help feed his poor family.

Frustrated in his job hunt, Abu Nada doused himself in petrol and set himself alight inside Gaza’s main Shifa hospital. His neighbours suggested he might have chosen to immolate himself at the hospital because he had wanted to make a gesture rather than kill himself, but medics there could not save him. He was pronounced dead on Sunday.

According to his father, “He left to seek work and he did not come back. My heart was shattered… We live in a miserable condition. We live in a rented house and I hardly can afford the rent.’’

For those who might still be wondering if this could possibly happen in Nigeria. Well, the Afro Legend already settled that case many many years ago when he sang “Suffering and Smiling”.

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