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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
laptops and all our friends and roommates’ phones and communication gadgets to
ensure that information about us did not leak to the outside community. We were
dying in installments.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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, Ifeanyi Stanley Okoye, Lord
Aondofa Ga-Lim and Samuel Okoye prayed the court for a declaration that:
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.
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:
Unlawful Detention and Battering meted against Ifeanyi Stanley Okoye and Lord
Aondofa Galim by staff and officials of Madonna University, Akpugo Campus,
Enugu State.”
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:
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.”
LimMother 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.
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.
making noiseIn 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.
Stanley and Aondofa when asked by the reporter if they knew why they became
targets of their torturers, they said that it was their courage to speak out
against the ill-treatment of students in the institution that made them targets
of threats and physical attack.
take delight in maltreating other students. We are treated as second-class
citizens in the university. They don’t allow us to use camera phones while our
parents are barred from seeing our hostels.
the school management often hires qualified lecturers and professors for
presentation but they leave soon after the accreditation process. In some of
the cases of students maltreating their fellow students, we have risen in some
instances to condemn such acts. This was what made us objects of attack by the
dean and CSO. Before we were physically attacked, the dean, Father Isaac had
often threatened us, saying that we would not graduate from the university,”
one of the duo said.
university who spoke on strict anonymity corroborated Stanley and Ga-Lim’s
positions, saying that they live in fear of the threat of expulsion everyday on
the campus.The brutalized students are suspected cultists –PRO
When the reporter spoke to Rev. Father Isaac Nginga on phone, he said that he
had no comment to make on the matter. When reminded that his submission of no
comment was an indication of being guilty as charged, he still maintained that
he wouldn’t say anything.
But when contacted the Public Relations Officer of the university, Emeka
Okpara, told Sunday Sun that Okoye and Ga-Lim were suspected cultists, who had
been disturbing the peace of the university. Though he acknowledged that the
injuries inflicted on the students were too much, he said it was as a result of
the antecedents of the students in the university. He also punctured the claims
by the students that the university lacked qualified lecturers.
His words:
rebelling against the university. They had previously attacked the chief
security officer off campus one day he rode in a public transport. Those
students jumped over the school gate and entered into the town, breaking
university rules.
accreditation is unfounded. Anybody who knows the calibre of the
Chancellor/owner of Madonna University, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Ede knows that he
doesn’t compromise on quality standards. The university boasts of sound
academics that can stand tall anywhere in the world.
aeronautical engineering faculty at the Akpugo campus but some powers scuttled
the approval. The problem is that those children born with silver spoon don’t
want to suffer while they know the rules and regulations guiding the university
before they enrolled and accepted to abide by the rules.”
Okoro of the Center for the Advancement of Human Rights and Peace Advocacy
advised the management of Madonna University to toe the path of honor by
accepting their wrongs and making efforts to remedy the ugly situation by
placating the victims and desisting from inhuman and degrading treatments of
their students.Okoro told Sunday Sun that it was unlawful for anybody, no matter how highly
placed, to take the law into his hands and inflict harm on another person
whether in revenge or as punishment for offence committed. He said part of the
terms of peaceful settlement to the affected students would be the immediate
release of their results by the university and payment of adequate
compensation. Failing this, he threatened that his organization in conjunction
with other groups would drag the management to court.
In the interim, and particularly regarding the controversial circumstances
that led to the temporary discharge of the accused persons by the magistrate
court, Chief Samuel Okoye has made a vow that the struggle to ensure that the
victims get justice will continue. He threatened to petition the National
Judicial Council, the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), National
Human Rights Commission and other relevant bodies both in Nigeria and abroad
over the matter. Okoye also punctured the claims by the university PRO that
the students were cultists, saying that such labeling was also an indirect
indictment on the university management.
for a while. How can a university where you have armed soldiers, policemen as
well as other private guards, claim that my son is a cultist.
authority, prosecutor, and dispenser of justice at the same time in a jungle
manner? They wanted to use my son for rituals but God said no. There are still
so many unanswered questions about what happened to my son and his friend. The
Rev. Father still needs to tell the whole world where they were taking my son
and his friend in the dead of the night in the trunk of the vehicles after
torturing them half dead, beating the university security and the police.
different story about what happened to the students. Since this matter started,
they have been busy trying to cover up by destroying evidence and reaching out
to some people so that the matter would be swept under the carpet. That was why
they destroyed my camera and also refused to release the medical records of the
tortured students but I know that there is God in heaven who oversees the
affairs of men,” Okoye said.