When 13-year-old Daniel Oikhena hid in the
tyre compartment of a Lagos-bound Arik
plane on August 24, little did he know he
was going to become a hero.
However, luck smiled on Daniel after a safe
landing and he became the boy of the
moment.
Daniel’s mother, Evelyn, had earlier
disclosed that her son had wanted to be a
pilot.
Since the incident, seeing Daniel now is like
forcing the carmel through the eye of a
needle.
In fact, the mother said she no longer have
free access to her own son. This is so
because the state government had taken up
the responsibility to ensure that he gets
good education.
According to her “It is even difficult for me
to see him some times because he is
undergoing some training and that is being
taken care of by the state government. I no
longer have powers over him. It was even
recently that I was able to see him.
“They decided to allow me see him because
they were preparing him to go back to
school. The only thing I can say now is that
the father and his people are bothering my
life. They think the state government gave
me money and, rather than think about the
welfare of the boy, they think it is all about
money. They have accused me of saying
that my husband was sick or was even
dead, but I never said all that and God
knows”.
“But I thank God for his mercy and that is
why it is painful. Instead of the father to be
grateful to God that the son survived in that
aircraft, all they have been accusing me of,
is money from the government. I am just
saying it because if anything happens to
me, they should be held responsible since
they want to kill me for something I know
nothing about.
“Right from day one, I have been
running up and down about
Daniel’s matter, none of them cared about
what I went through with my children. My
daughters are supposed to have gone back
to school now but due to no money, they
have not gone back. Their father does not
care about that and it is very sad really”.
Meanwhile, Daniel went back to school on
Monday, 16 September after he was
examined by doctors and a psychologist
and was found to be sound. He was
accompanied by heavily armed security
operatives.
A top official of the school said, unless
there was an instruction from the Edo
Government House, no one is allowed to
talk to him on the matter.
He said, “You know that he is a government
son now; so the instruction is to ensure
that he is well monitored both for security
reason and his education. So it is difficult
for anyone to speak with him. The idea is to
ensure that he forgets about what
happened at the airport and concentrate in
his studies and, so far, the boy is doing
well.
“We want him to catch up with all he has
missed educationally because we
understand he was in a private school
before but due to no money, he was almost
becoming a drop out. Before he enrolled
here, we were told that he told government
he prefers this school.
“And that is why he was registered here.
And if you look at our history, you will
know that majority of the great men and
women from this state attended this
school, so the boy may be in another
journey to glory here”.
“It is said that Daniel has joined the league
of those referred to as Oshiomhole’s
children going by the situation around him.
These children are about 20, in different
schools, and enjoying sponsorship from
the governor.
It was learnt that government officials have
been instructed to take care of the children
who must enjoy the privileges accrued to
governor’s children.”
No comments:
Post a Comment