In brief
Ovey Friday's life changed drastically when he was accused of witchcraft at 13 and subsequently tortured, leading to the amputation of his left hand and scarring on his right. Despite facing societal stigma and barriers in the education system, including biometric verification issues, he has become the first in his family to attend university, demonstrating resilience and the importance of advocacy.
At the age of 13, Ovey Friday was accused of witchcraft by his stepmother and taken to a traditional shrine in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa, where he was tortured. By the time a neighbour alerted police and he was taken to hospital, the damage was irreversible.
The herbalist brought charcoal, put something on my hands, tied my hands [along] with my leg, put pepper there inside the charcoal, then cover[ed] me with a bedsheet, recalls Friday, now aged 19. Doctors were forced to sedate him and operate on him. Friday woke up to find his left hand amputated, while the fingers on his right hand were either amputated or permanently scarred. I cried and I cried, Friday tells the BBC.
In the years that followed, people stared at him on the streets or taunted him. I wish they knew me, like, when I was born, he says. Alongside his grief was a steely determination to keep going. Yet his academic ambitions were nearly interrupted two years ago, when he tried to sit Nigeria's university entrance examination, run by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (Jamb).
The system's biometric fingerprint process could not accommodate someone like him, as it could not capture his scarred thumbprint or the prints of the other two scarred fingers. Thankfully he got lucky as one of his guardians, along with disability rights campaigners, pushed officials to accept his toe print as verification of his ID.
Friday is now studying English and literary studies at a university in Nasarawa, a state which borders the capital, Abuja. He is the first in his family to enrol at university.
Not everyone has someone to push for them, he says. Some people will just stop trying, Friday says. His story highlights the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in accessing education in Nigeria, where significant societal and institutional barriers remain.
Ovey Friday's journey not only embodies resilience but also calls for further advocacy and reforms to ensure that individuals with disabilities are supported in their pursuit of education and equality.
