Student reportedly beaten to death by his colleagues within School premises
The Kubwa Abuja residence of the late 22-year-old student, Mr. Jeffrey Chamuke, was shrouded in sorrow, indignation, and bewilderment yesterday. A delegation comprising representatives from Ajayi Crowther University, including the Registrar, Dr. J.E.T. Babatola, Dean of Students Affairs, Prof. Roland Isibor, and Venerable Ayo Dideola from the Chaplaincy, visited the family to offer their condolences.
Close relatives and friends gathered at the Ozegbe family’s home in Kubwa, Abuja, to receive the delegation. Addressing the tragic incident, Babatola disclosed that Jeffrey was allegedly taken from his room by fellow students, beaten severely in another room, and left in critical condition, purportedly over accusations of phone theft and involvement in sports betting. He stated that 12 students and eight staff members were initially apprehended, with investigations ongoing.
Following preliminary inquiries, eight individuals were released by the police, while the remaining 12 are detained at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Ibadan.
Mrs. Anthonia Ozegbe, the mother of the deceased, refuted claims of her son’s involvement in phone theft or sports betting, asserting that Jeffrey was raised well and provided for by the family.
In his condolence speech, Babatola said: “We came in respect of an unfortunate incident that happened in our university, Ajayi Crowther University, concerning a student Akro Jeffrey Chamuke, who was beaten by some students over allegations that a phone was stolen and that it was traced to him.”
“Unfortunately, none of the management knew about the beating until the next morning when a student reported it to us.
“Sincerely speaking, he was beaten to stupor and left there without reporting to anybody. It was in the morning that one of the students saw him lying there and reported to the porter.
“The porter called for the ambulance to take him to our hospital but by the time he got there, he was referred to Momoh hospital which is the hospital we use when our clinic cannot handle a case.
“Unfortunately, he was confirmed dead on arrival at Momoh hospital. Momoh Hospital is a private hospital and the university normally refers secondary cases to Momoh Hospital.
“He was confirmed dead and immediately the Dean and the students were mobilised to identify those who were involved in the act. While also the Vice Chancellor of the university was informed.
“While that was going on, you know when someone dies, it is not something anybody can hide. The parents brought their children to us and nobody expected anybody to take the laws into their hands.
“So it is now a case of the state versus the culprits as loss of life is involved. Even if it was a phone matter as reported, should it lead to death? What is a phone? Something that is fashion and will go away.
“Why are we so wicked to ourselves? If the matter had been reported to the school authority, worst case scenario we would have asked the student to go home and bring his or her parents and probably asked the person to refund the money allegedly transferred from the phone if there was proof and then we will warn the student because as a private university we don’t rush to expel students unless the student is irredeemable. Expulsion is the last option that we normally take.
“The parents who bring their children to our school would expect us to return back to turn a living person and not someone that is dead so, it is an unfortunate incident.
“The police rounded up all the students involved including the porter. Even someone that said he was there when they were beating Jeffrey but that he did not participate in the beating was also picked up.
“Because he did not report or call any of the officials to intervene when he saw them beating Jeffrey. In the case of the porter who said it was raining heavily that night he did hear the noise or sound of being beaten.
“It was negligence on the part of the porter. There was no reason to allow anybody to be brutalised in that way. So all of them are in police net at the State CID Ibadan.
“Twelve students were arrested but about 20 people are in police custody. Jeffrey was taken from his room to another room and we were told that about 12 of them pounced on him and beat him to stupor.
“Out of the 20 persons that were arrested, after interrogation, eight were asked to go. All we are saying now is what we gathered from here and there, so until the police finish their investigation, we cannot confirm whether it was about a stolen phone or whether money was transferred from the phone to play sport betting.
“Jeffrey’s phone is with the police and the veracity of the claim or otherwise by his attackers would be unraveled during police investigation.”
“It is only public areas that are covered by CCTV because we regard the privacy of the students. That is why all the hostels have porters and security personnel.”
While reacting, the boy’s mother, Mrs Ozegbe said: “My son was always asking for money despite the fact that he gets N100,000.00 every month.
“Obviously, those bullies in the school were always asking him for money. The thing that pained me as a mother is that he did not confide in me nor did he tell the elder sister what he was going through in the school.
“When they talk about stolen phones, I just wonder! My son had two iPhones and suddenly on Saturday, one of the administrative officers of the school called me and he was telling me about people beating my son. I asked if my son was safe, he just kept quiet and didn’t say anything.”
