By Uche Amunike
It was a sad day for the Ovoke family as tragedy struck, when their four year-old son, Miguel, was reported dead by his school, Brickhall School, Abuja, located in the Cadastral Zone B11, Kaura, in Abuja, during the school’s feeding hours.
According to the death certificate which was dated April 24, 2024 and issued by Excel Specialist Hospital, Abuja, the deceased child was brought to the hospital by his teachers by 11am, unconscious. His medical report, which was signed by Dr. Akinwande Ajayi on behalf of the Medical Director, showed that he was brought in ‘on account of aspiration on meat, while feeding at school.’
According to the hospital, when he was examined, the medical team discovered that the boy’s pupils were fixed and dilated with a non-reactive response to light. They also said that his pheripheral pulses we are impalpable, his blood pressure, unrecordable, while there was also, no cardiopulmonary activity or respiratory excursions. The report further indicated that in spite of all the efforts made by the medical team to bring the boy back to life, they failed. The conclusion on his medical report was that he was ‘brought in dead’.
According to a report by Punch Metro, Miguel’s parents contacted a lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, to handle the case as they suspected foul play. This information was confirmed by the lawyer on Thursday. According to him, the petition was in order. It will be addressed to the State Commissioner of Police on the matter.
According to Adeyanju , the 4 year-old Miguel was said to have been dropped off at school in the morning. Afterwards, his father, who was away for a business transaction in Aba, called his mother with the information that somebody called him from Brickhall School, Abuja, saying that there was an emergency.
He stated: ‘So the wife quickly rushed to the school, only to find out that Miguel was dead. The school claimed that he had experienced a seizure and died, but she was told by other pupils who saw him dead in the toilet that they had informed the teachers he was having a seizure. However, the teachers told the four-year-old boy to go and ‘sneeze it out’ in the toilet, where he died.
‘When the mother requested the CCTV footage, they refused to provide it. However, with the intervention of the Garki DPO, they claimed the CCTV footage had crashed. Only today’s footage crashed, while other CCTVs were working. The footage to show what happened to Miguel is not there, which clearly implies they have wiped it. They even blamed the mother for reporting to the police. As of now, they have failed to report the matter to the police’, he stated.
As at press time, all efforts made to get the reaction of Brickhall school, Abuja remained futile. No feedback was given to the e-mail sent to the school’s known e-mail address. Messages which were also sent to the Head of School, Gloria Ijezie, were yet to be replied, just as every call to her line was redirected.
The FCT Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, when reached, stated that the police already started investigating the matter as it had just been reported at the Wuye Divisional Police Headquarters. She assured that as soon as they concluded with the investigations, the outcome would duly be communicated.
