Yobe State is mourning the death of twin sisters -Dr. Hadiya Usman, popularly known as Hassana, and Dr. Aidah Usman, also known as Usaina, who died just two days apart in a tragedy that has plunged their family, colleagues and the wider medical community into grief.
The two sisters were both healthcare professionals, died on Friday, October 2, and Sunday, October 4, 2026, respectively, after reportedly battling complications associated with sickle cell disease.
Hadiya was a medical doctor, while her twin sister, Aidah, was a Doctor of Pharmacy. Their deaths have attracted an outpouring of condolences, particularly because of the circumstances surrounding Adah’s death shortly after the burial of her twin sister.
The deceased were daughters of Professor Hadiza Abdullahi Usman, the Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Nguru, Yobe State.
Reports on the tragedy indicate that Hadiya had been receiving treatment at FMC Nguru for about a week after suffering a sickle cell crisis.
She eventual died on Friday and living her family and loved ones to prepare for her burial while still coming to terms with the loss.
Her remains were reportedly laid to rest after funeral prayers at Emir’s Palace in Nguru on the same day.
The death was particularly painful for the family because Hadiya’s twin sister, Aidah, was also reportedly battling health complications around the same period.
According reports, Aidah had been receiving treatment at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital before she was discharged.
She returned home following her treatment, but her sister’s death would soon be followed by another devastating development.
Aida, who was reportedly pregnant also living with sickle cell disease, died on Sunday, just two days after her twin sister.
The circumstances have deepened the grief surrounding the tragedy, as the family had barely begun to mourn Hadiya when it was confronted with the death of her twin sister.
The two women who had shared the bond of being twins from birth, therefore died within a period of 48 hours.
The loss has also resonated within the care community because both sisters followed careers in medical profession.Hadiya trained and worked as a medical doctor, while Aidah became a pharmacist.
Their mother, Professor Hadiza Usman, is also a prominent figure in the health sector. Usman is a Professor of Gynaecological Oncology and Representative Health and was reportedly the first female Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist produced by the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
The family has been urged to take solace in the memories of their two women and in the lives they lived as healthcare professionals.
The tragedy has also highlighted personal cost losing loved one, particularly when two members of the same family die within such a short period.
For Usman family, the loss is not only that of two daughters, but also of twin sisters whose lives were closely intertwined from birth.
