The House of Representatives on Thursday began
investigations into how a 15-year-old Nigerian
student died in Ghana in “questionable
circumstances.”
Austine Odukwe was an Senior Secondary
Student 3 student of Ideal College, Community 5
in Tena, Ghana, when he suddenly died on
October 15 this year.
The police in Ghana and school authorities later
called the father, Odukwe, claiming that the
deceased drowned.
He had just spent 12 days in the school.
However, the House Committee on Diapora,
headed by Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, suspected
murder.
On Thursday, the committee resolved to demand
the coroner’s report on the incident as the
starting point for a thorough investigation into
the case.
Austine was among 47 students reportedly taken
out for jogging by a housemaster, but later went
to the Tena beach in Ghana, where he reportedly
drowned.
But, Odukwe, who appeared before the
committee in company with family members in
Abuja, said he believed that his son was
murdered.
He told the committee that upon receiving the
news of the incident, he travelled to Ghana and
demanded to see the corpse.
According to him, while examining the body, he
saw that he was stabbed on the ribs and had
injuries on his leg, forehead and shoulders.
“I immediately raised an objection; this could not
have been a case of drowning. Where did the
injuries come from in drowning? There was blood
on his face and the photographs of the scene
taken by the police also showed that he was
foaming from the mouth,” he stated.
Odukwe added that he personally witnessed the
autopsy on the corpse and found out that “no
water came out from his tommy.”
He added, “His tommy was flat; how would
somebody drown and there would be no water in
his stomach? I reported the matter to the
Nigerian Embassy.
“The police report said it was an accident; there
is no straight explanation for how my son died.”
The committee described the incident as sad,
assuring the family that the House would get to
the bottom of the issue.
A member of the committee, Mr. Aminu Shagari,
said, “We have to look at the coroner’s report.
But, beyond this, we created this situation for
ourselves. If our educational system is working
well, we would not be sending our children to
places like Ghana for secondary school
education.
“This suggests that the situation is really bad.”
