We have heard of students lynching their fellow students for various crimes,we have witnessed justice being served,we have witnessed the death of our colleagues even in the spirit of Aluta,but death at the hand of our own school management?IMPOSSIBLE!
Well that was my expression,my response when I read this piece.
Private Universities have always been referred to as "Glorified Secondary Schools",reason is not far fetched. Should we talk about the way students in private schools are caged and restricted? Or perhaps is it the way they are not allowed to wear what they want,eat what they want or use the kind of gadget they would love to.
And all because of what? To preserve morals,integrity,norms and values but to what extent?
Hypocrisy is what I call this.
Why would I pay so much money,risk expulsion when I try to breathe air,fresh air instead of the little amount of oxygen I get in my "cage",only for me to be treated like an animal,dragged out of my bed on a cold night to an unknown destination,beaten to the point of death and almost left to die,uncatered for?
This is the story of two students of Madonna University,Enugu,who were beaten to the point of death,denied treatment and justice.
Read to the end,thank you.
Two students of Madonna University, Akpugo Campus,
Enugu State, have told the horrifying story of torture
they suffered in the hands of key officials of the tertiary
institution.
The duo, Stanley Okoye, 23, a final year Civil
Engineering student and Ga-Lim Aondofa Lord, escaped
death by the whiskers after they were allegedly
abducted from their rooms February 3, 2015, in the dead
of the night, in commando fashion, by the Chief
Security Officer of the university, Okey Ogbonna and
the Dean of Student Affairs, Rev. Fr. Isaac Nginga, a
Catholic priest, in company of others and taken to a
secluded area on the campus, where they were tortured,
brutalized, dehumanised and left to die, but through
divine intervention, they lived to tell the story.
Though they survived the ordeal, they are still
undergoing treatment for the almost fatal injuries they
received in the hands of their tormentors. For instance,
Stanley still needs to undergo special surgery in
Germany on the spine to repair a major damage inflicted
on him while the torture lasted. Aondofa suffered a
dislocated jaw that required having his jaws held
together with special dental wire to allow the injury
heal. The duo would for the rest of their lives bear the
burden of the deep psychological scars imprinted on
their minds by the experience.
Meanwhile, they are still battling to get the results of
their degree examinations released. Accompanied by
their parents, the victims who visited The Sun office in
Onitsha gave a chilling account of what they passed
through in the campus, and revealed the alleged moves
by the university management to cover up the truth.
In the heartbreaking and graphic account of what
happened that fateful night they were abducted, Stanley
Okoye recounted that he was woken up from sleep
around midnight by one Mr. Kingsley, the school’s Sub-
Dean, Mr. Ola, their hall representatives, Mr. Wisdom,
Mr. Somtoo and Ogbonna Okey, who is the university
chief security officer (CSO), all of whom were
accompanied by the Dean of Students Affairs, Rev. Fr.
Isaac Nginga. He was then bundled into a Toyota
4runner SUV and taken to a bushy end of the campus
where their ordeal began.
Continuing, Stanley said: “These people were
accompanied that night by an armed soldier, who is
among our security guards in school. First, they asked
for the room number of my friend and classmate, Lord
Ga-Lim and I told them. They picked him up from his
hostel and forced both of us into the vehicle. They first
drove us to the administrative building and we alighted.
Without any question, they descended on us after
commanding us to lie down on the gravel. It was Rev.
Father Isaac who hit us first with his belt, and the
others then joined. They beat us with military belts,
planks, batons, iron, stones and other dangerous
weapons they could lay their hands on; they dealt
mercilessly with us.
“All the while they were treading on us as we lay on
the sharp, rough gravel. Not even our plea for mercy or
cries for help could melt their hearts. Fr. Isaac even
commanded the military officer to shoot us if we
attempted to run away. In fact, the soldier fired the
shot but narrowly missed me. I was coughing out blood
and bleeding profusely but Ogbonna, the CSO hit me
with his elbow and I fell down again.
“In that state, I was forced into the trunk of the Lexus
SUV of Fr. Isaac; I memorized the registration number
ENU 525 CP. My friend was forced into a Toyota
4Runner SUV driven by Rev. Fr. Mamah. With us in the
trunk, they moved with crazy speed and even drove past
the university security post without stopping. The road
was very bad. Even though I was almost slipping into
unconsciousness, I still heard the shrill voices of
security men at the gate and flashing of lights at them
telling them to stop. I later realized that the people
were policemen on patrol who suspected the manner of
the vehicular movement. That night, our tormentors
took us to Agbani police station.
“A police officer on duty at the station asked them
whether we were involved in accident but they didn’t
answer. In that state, I told the police that we were
attacked by the same people, who brought us to the
station and the police told them to take us to a
specialist hospital or else we would die but they just
took us back to the campus and dumped us in the
campus clinic. I was in pains and we were struggling to
hang on to life. They only gave us painkillers and sleep
inducing drugs. It was one of the nurses who saw our
condition that night that I whispered my mother’s
number into her ears and she used her phone, after
hiding the number, to notify my parents about our
plight.
“While we were in the hospital, they confiscated our
phones, laptops and all our friends and roommates’
phones and communication gadgets to ensure that
information about us did not leak to the outside commu
nity. We were dying in installments. On February 5, I
was woken up by the CSO, who told me that my father
was at the gate and wanted to see me. My dad was
shocked when he saw my condition. When he tried to
take a picture of me, they seized his camera and
smashed it on the ground. After heated argument
between my dad and the people at the gate, they
immediately bundled my friend and myself to the Elele
campus of the university in Rivers State, in the dead of
the night without the knowledge of my father. We were
in the hospital at Elele for about seven weeks shut out
from the people and still under police watch even on
our hospital bed. We underwent several surgeries
because the doctor confirmed that my zygomatic bone
close to the spine was fractured. My friend had
fractures on the lower and upper jaws.
I fainted when I saw my son –Okoye
Narrating how he heard about his son’s ordeal and the
frustrations he encountered in the course of seeking
justice for the victimized students, Chief Okoye told
Sunday Sun that he was in Lagos when his wife called
him from their Abuja home.
His words: “My wife informed me that she received a
distress call. Only God can describe the trauma we
passed through that night before daybreak. I left Lagos
for Enugu with first flight, abandoning all I came to do in
Lagos, but I never knew that I was in for the greatest
shock of my life. On getting to the school gate, I was
denied entry by the security people and left stranded for
four hours. When I noticed that the matter was no more
a small issue not to talk of the uncertainty surrounding
my son’s life, knowing that his phone was already
permanently switched off, I sought for external help
through the military. It was the high command at the 82
Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu that assisted me
before they could allow me to enter and stay by the
side of the gate while they went to fetch my son. When
they brought him, I fainted, upon seeing his condition.
“After regaining composure a bit, I asked him who did
that to him and he pointed out the CSO, the Rev Father
and some others. I wanted to take his picture in that
state for practical evidence but to my surprise, another
Catholic priest named Fr. Francis, who came in from
Elele, Rivers State with two police escorts ordered the
security men to smash my camera which is worth
N300,000 to pieces, and they did. They also threatened
to shoot me if I didn’t tread with caution. After all
arguments, we agreed that the children should be taken
to either Enugu State University Teaching Hospital
(ESUTH) or University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital
(UNTH), Ituku Ozalla, Enugu State, but to my surprise
again, as soon as I left, they bundled the children in
that state to their headquarters at Elele, Rivers State.
“The children were kept incommunicado and detained in
the hospital too. It was through military assistance that
I was able to gain access to see them in the hospital
but they refused to release them to us for proper
medical care.” Federal High Court to the rescue
Unable to endure the continued detention of the
students at the Elele campus of the university and the
uncertainty and anxiety surrounding their health status,
Okoye through his lawyer, G. E. Ezeuko, SAN
approached the Federal High Court, Enugu, for the
enforcement of the fundamental human rights of the
students. He also slammed a civil suit against the
Governing Council of Madonna University and eight
other respondents, demanding N1billion compensation
for special and general damages and for gross violation
of fundamental human rights guaranteed under the
Constitution of Nigeria and African Charter on Human
and Peoples Rights.
In the Suit No FHC/ EN/M/58/2015, the applicants, If
eanyi Stanley Okoye, Lord Aondofa Ga-Lim and Samuel
Okoye prayed the court for a declaration that: “The acts
of the respondents on the 3rd and 5th of February,
2015 which resulted in serious bodily injury, torture,
intimidation and detention of the applicants amounts to
infraction of their fundamental right guaranteed under
sections 33, 34, 35 and 36 of the Constitution of Nigeria
1999 and under the Africa Charter on Human and
Peoples Right.
Through the granted reliefs sought by the applicants,
the management of Madonna University later released
the wounded students from the hospital though there
are other pending matters in the suit. The case was
adjourned till October 29, 2015.
Catholic priest, CSO remanded in prison custody,
granted mysterious bail
On their release from the hospital in Elele, Stanley and
Aondofa sought private treatment in other different
hospitals. Stanley was admitted at Olabisi Onabanjo
Teaching Hospital, Ogun State while Aondofa also went
for corrective surgeries on his broken jaw. It was at the
teaching hospital that the doctor revealed that Stanley
would still require a corrective surgery abroad for his
cervical region to avoid total and irreversible damage to
the spinal cord as a result of the injuries sustained from
the torture.
Incensed that the university management showed no
concern or even bothered to reach out to the aggrieved
families of the brutalized students, who are solely
bearing the spiraling cost of the victims’ medical bills,
while the perpetrators of the acts have been walking
about scot-free, Okoye petitioned the Commissioner of
Police seeking for criminal prosecution of the alleged
culprits.
The petition signed by Barrister A.C Arinze of the
chambers of G. E Ezeuko (SAN) and addressed to the
Enugu State Commissioner of Police, copy of which was
obtained by the Sunday Sun, was entitled: “Petition
Against Torture, Maltreatment, Dehumanization,
Unlawful Detention and Battering meted against Ifeanyi
Stanley Okoye and Lord Aondofa Galim by staff and
officials of Madonna University, Akpugo Campus, Enugu
State.”
Acting on the contents of the petition, and particularly
moved by the pictures of the tortured state of the
victims, the Commissioner of Police, after interviewing
both parties and expressing serious dismay over the
inhuman treatment of the students, ordered the
detention of the duo of Fr. Nginga and Ogbonna Okey
while others connected to the alleged crime were
declared wanted.
Then on Tuesday, July 14, 2015, Nginga and Ogbonna
were arraigned in an Enugu Magistrate court presided
over by Nkemdilim Anibueze on a two-count charge of
conspiracy and felony.
When the court registrar read the first charge against
the defendants, an argument ensued between the police
prosecutor, Anichima Boniface and the defence counsel
from the chambers of Tony Muogbo, SAN, who argued
that the first count charge preferred against the
defendants was incompetent, arguing that the court
lacked jurisdiction to try the case.
After arguments, the magistrate ordered that the
defendants be remanded in prison till the next
adjourned date (July 21, 2015) for her to rule on
whether the first count charge should subsist and on
the issue of jurisdiction.
When the case was called on the resumed hearing,
which was witnessed by Sunday Sun reporter and other
journalists, a mild drama played out when the
magistrate expressly granted all the prayers of the
defence counsel and disallowed any objection from the
police prosecutor or the counsel to the victimised
students.
The magistrate, after ruling that the court did what it
was supposed to do by remanding the suspects in
prison custody when issues of competency of the court,
charges or jurisdiction arose, later gave room for the
counsel to argue their points.
The defence counsel, Tony Muogbo, SAN represented
by Mrs V.C. Okoye told the court that the defendants
had applied for and were granted bail by Agbani High
Court, presided over by Justice Anidi, stressing that
they had met the bail conditions. She explained that
Friday and Monday, being November 17 and 20
respectively, were public holidays, therefore the
defendants could not pay the necessary fees to obtain
the certified true copies of the bail application.
The police prosecutor, Anichima, while addressing the
court said that the argument by the defence counsel
was a novelty to him because he had never heard that a
defendant standing trial in a magistrate court could go
to another court to seek and obtain bail when the
magistrate hearing the case had not dispensed with it.
The presiding magistrate in her ruling admitted the files
as Exhibits A, A2, A3, A4 and E, which were enclosed in
a big envelope. She stated that the case had been
bonded over with the sum of N200,000 while the matter
was adjourned sine-die pending when the Attorney
General of Enugu State through the Director of Public
Prosecution would give his opinion.
Before the magistrate could finish her remarks, the
cleric and the CSO jumped out of the dock and in a
jiffy, rushed to the door, followed immediately by other
priests from Madonna University, who came to court in
solidarity. Before the two lawyers could step out of the
court, the defendants had already boarded a vehicle
waiting within the premises and the driver zoomed off.
In a chat with Sunday Sun within the court premises,
counsel to the brutalized students, Fidelis Mbadugha
expressed dismay over what transpired in the court,
saying that there were indications that something
transpired in secret before the court sitting. He said the
proper thing the magistrate ought to have done was to
first of all decline jurisdiction. He said the high court
had no jurisdiction to grant bail when the matter was
still pending in a magistrate court.
His words: “It is after a magistrate court must have
concluded and transmitted the case file to the DPP, and
the DPP had prepared his opinion that the defendants
could then apply for bail at the high court. The high
court would then see the proceedings and records at
the lower court before granting the bail. This kind of
procedure has not happened in our justice system and
we will study the situation and know the next step to
take.”
They wanted to eliminate my son –Mrs Lim
Mother of Ga-Lim Aondofa Lord, Mrs. Yemi Lim, who
spoke to Sunday Sun from Benue State, where she lives,
expressed sadness and dismay over the whole situation,
alleging that the university authorities were eager to
cover the truth.
“I’m not happy over the whole situation. My son was
tortured, assaulted, locked up and would have died in
that school but till today, nobody from the institution
has communicated to us what actually happened. They
performed surgery on my son without my signing any
consent form. I was at the Elele hospital from February
17 to March 26, at my own expense but all I see is
conspiracy of silence. I asked Fr. Mike at Elele to tell
me the offence my son committed but he said nothing.
It is very disappointing and I say that this barbaric
action must stop in that school. In 2013, two students
were (allegedly) set ablaze at the Okija campus of the
university. That matter was also swept under the
carpet. I want justice to be done,” she said.
Another student brutalized for making noise
In the course of investigating this case, Sunday Sun also
encountered another student at the Akpugo campus of
the university, who was allegedly brutalized for making
noise during a church service in the campus. Sunday
Sun learnt that the incident also involved the CSO and
the cleric in charge of student affairs. He said they
used military belt to beat him, and inflicted serious
injuries on him. The scars of the injuries were still
visible on his face since November 2014 when the
incident happened.
Well,it is so amazing how the people who we look up to as models,mentors are the ones we find behind questionable deals. One had wonder why a father,a clergyman,would treat a child or someone else's child like an animal. Even animals deserve to be treated gently. What do you think should be done about this? Even if these students were indeed cultists,should a punishment like this be meted out to them? Do they deserve to die when even the prison is a better option?
If there is another term other than jungle justice,such term should be given to such treatment meted out to these students.
Life is important,we have a right to life as students. Yes,you might say they are a private university students,we are all students in tertiary institutions and the students in private universities do not deserve to be caged,treated like animals.
It is it time to lend a voice to our brothers and sisters,the time has come to voice out againt maltreatment. We are not animals,we have a right to life,we are humans,we deserve to be treated as such.
Live and let's live.
Aluta continua,victoria ascerta...
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