15-Year-Old Nigerian Student Die In Ghana After Just 12 Days In School

The House of Representatives has said it will demand a coroner's inquest into the alleged murder of a 15-year-old student, Augustine Ogukwe, in Ghana.

The Chairman of the House Committee on Diaspora, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said it was time to stop the embarrassment Nigeria was getting from Ghana.

She said her committee would request for a coroner's inquest into the boy's death to ascertain criminality or otherwise, particularly since another Nigerian student was killed about the same time Ogukwe died.

The father, Obioma Ogukwe, who works in The Sun, told the committee members how Augustine, an SS3 pupil of Ideal College, Community 5 in the port city of Tema, died mysteriously after spending just 12 days in the school.

He said: "The school authority and the proprietor said the boy drowned.

"But the wound marks were not consistent with drowning. He was 15 years old and was in SS3. He was in the place for 12 days."

Ogukwe explained that though the school insisted that Augustine died by drowning, the stab marks on his body were inconsistent with the claim.

The bereaved father, who was at the National Assembly with the distraught mother , said there seemed to be an attempt to cover up the real cause of the death.

A member of the committee, Aminu Shehu-Shagari, said: "We must ask the House to look into the cause of the death.

"A coroner must check whether or not there is criminality in the death. Then, there is also the negligence of the school authority.

"We have about 700,000 students in Ghana and the school fees Nigerians pay in Ghana is N170 billion while Nigeria budget's for Education is N150 billion.

"If we had made our education sector standardised we won't be exposing our children to this kind of danger."

The Chairman of the Diaspora Committee, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, faulted the manner the death was handled by the school and the Ghanaian authorities.

She said: "The way the college handled the death was not ideal. What we can do is ensure the truth about what killed your son.

"We will demand that all your rights be respected. We will take this up with the Ghanaian authority. This is one of several cases.

"This same Ghana has said Nigerians must deposit $1 million before commencing business in the country. This is a failure of leadership in this country."