From Premium Times...
The family of a Nigerian student,
who was killed in the North Cyprus city of Nicosia, has cried out to the
Federal Government and relevant authorities for intervention.
Gabriel Soriwei, 20, a first year
student of Electrical/Electronic/Engineering at the Cyprus International
University, Nicosia, was allegedly knocked down by a female driver on July 13.
The impact of the accident caused
Mr. Soriwei to fall into a coma; he eventually died on September 7, his family
said.
Five days later, the Cyprus
International University authorities flew his remains back to Nigeria via the
same Turkish Airline with which he travelled to Cyprus in February.
“While the family has accepted
the reality of the painful loss of our child, his death has raised some issues
about the value placed on the life of the Nigerian outside the shores of this
country,” the family said in a statement signed by Patrick Soriwei, the
deceased’s father.
“First, neither the Cyprus
International University nor the family of the woman who drove the car that
killed Gabriel has found it necessary to at least write to the family to
condole with us on the death of this young man who until his death was
contributing to the economy of Cyprus by paying school fees as a foreign
student,” Mr. Soriwei said.
“It is also unjust that the
authorities of Cyprus are hiding the identity of the woman who killed our child
from the family. The police authorities in Cyprus insisted that it was the
practice in their country to ensure that such a person was shielded from the
family of the victim.”
Mr. Soriwei stated that, on his
visit to Cyprus, the Cypriot police had informed him that the Turkish woman lost
control of the vehicle which knocked down Gabriel.
“It was however gathered that the
woman was drunk even though we have no proof of it. The police said that the woman was detained
for three days and released.
“Painfully, our investigations
revealed that the university, which was said to be pursuing the case and hosts
about 700 Nigerian students, has shown a lack of interest in the issue. Several
entreaties made by the family to the school authorities to send the belongings
of the late Gabriel to Nigeria have been ignored.”
The deceased’s family further
stated that they had notified the Nigerian Embassy in Cyprus but the Mission
had not relayed a favourable response back to them.
“The best the Nigerian Mission in
Ankara has done is to send one Uche to the university to find out the cause of
the death. The Mission has not rendered the necessary assistance in getting the
police to write a report on his death. This delay in writing this report, we
believe, is inspired by a plot to subvert the process of justice in this
matter,” Mr. Soriwei lamented.
“Consequently, we have written to
the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, the leadership of the National Assembly, with copies of
the letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Embassy in Nigeria,
and others.”
The Soriwei family also implored
the federal government and well meaning Nigerians to come to their aid as they
search for justice over the death of their child.
“The life of a Nigerian child
should be treated more decently than that of a stray animal. The situation
doesn’t seem to be different in this case,” the family said.
Read the bereaved family’s full letter below.
11
Patrick Ehime Street,
Off
Ugbor Road,
Benin
City,
Edo
State.
October
14
PRESS
STATEMENT
Family
of murdered Nigerian Student in Cyprus cry out for Justice
The
family of a Nigerian student, Mr. Gabriel Soriwei, who was killed in the North
Cyprus city of Nicosia, has cried out to the Federal Government, relevant authorities
and indeed all well meaning Nigerians for intervention.
Gabriel
Soriwei, (20), was a first year student of Electrical/Electronic/Engineering at
the Cyprus International University, Nicosia, in the Turkish Republic of North
Cyprus when he was knocked down by a female driver on July 13, 2013.
As
a result of the impact of the accident, Gabriel fell into a coma and eventually
died on September, 7 2013. On September 12, the authorities of the Cyprus
International University flew his remains via the same Turkish Airline he flew
in February to us as cargo for us to clear.
While
the family has accepted the reality of the painful loss of our child, his death
has raised some issues about the value placed on the life of the Nigerian
outside the shores of this country.
First,
neither the Cyprus International University nor the family of the woman who
drove the car that killed Gabriel has found it necessary to at least write to
the family to condole with us on the death of this young man who until his
death was contributing to the economy of Cyprus by paying school fees as a
foreign student.
It
is also unjust that the authorities of Cyprus are hiding the identity of the
woman who killed our child from the family. The police authorities in Cyprus
insisted that it was the practice in their country to ensure that such a person
was shielded from the family of the victim.
The
police told the father of the deceased, Mr. Patrick Soriwei, during a visit to
Nicosia that the Turkish woman lost control of the vehicle which knocked down
Gabriel. It was however gathered that the woman was drunk even though we have
no proof of it. The police said that the
woman was detained for three days and released.
Painfully,
our investigations revealed that the university which was said to be pursuing
the case and which is host to about 700 Nigerian students, has shown lack of
interest in the issue. Several entreaties made by the family to the school
authorities to send the belongings of the late Gabriel to Nigeria have been
ignored.
We
have informed the Nigerian Embassy in Cyprus and the mission there does not
seem to see this screaming demand to defend of the rights of Nigerians in a
foreign country as a priority.
The
best the Nigerian Mission in Ankara has done was to send one Uche to the
university to find out the cause of the death. The Mission has not rendered the
necessary assistance in getting the police to write a report on his death. This
delay in writing this report, we believe, is inspired by a plot to subvert the
process of justice in this matter.
Consequently,
we have written to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the leadership of the National Assembly, with
copies of the letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Turkish Embassy in
Nigeria, and others.
While
the Soriwei family intends to pursue this matter to the best of our abilities,
we urge the Federal Government and all Nigerians of good conscience to come our
aid in the search for justice over the killing of this innocent Nigerian child.
The
life of a Nigerian child should be treated more decently than that of a stray
animal. The situation doesn’t seem to be different in this case.
Signed
Mr.
Patrick Soriwei
Father
of the deceased
I hate this country when it comes to issues like this,jeez nigeria! So painful God help us
ReplyDelete