Posted by By GODWIN TSA, Abuja on
Seventeen -year -old Master Enietie Patrick Bassey was late for school and in a bid to catch up with time, he forgot to put on his stockings before leaving leaving home on Tuesday, May 24, 2005.
Seventeen -year -old Master Enietie Patrick Bassey was late for school and in a bid to catch up with time, he forgot to put on his stockings before leaving leaving home on Tuesday, May 24, 2005.
Unfortunately, however, it did not occur to him that that singular mistake would cost him his life. For as soon as he stepped into the premises of Government Day Secondary School, Karu, the devil struck, leading to his untimely death in the hands of a senior student.
Prefect from hell
The young Bassey was apprehended by one Master Chukwuma, a Senior Secondary II student, who claimed to be a ‘prefect' for not wearing his stockings. Bassey explained and promised to put them on the next day.
Not satisfied with his explanation, Chukwuma drew him back as he made to go into his class, SSIC, and asked him to kneel down.
And as a sheep being led to the slaughter, he complied with the instruction of his senior. It was in the process of his kneeling down that the devil in Chukwuma was let loose. He descended on the defenceless Bassey with blows. But when Bassey could not accommodate the rain of blows any longer, he engaged his prefect in a fight.
Some of the student who witnessed the incident told Saturday Sun in confidence that "as the fight prolonged, they were separated by one of the teaching staff who reprimanded them and ordered them into their classes.
But the devil in Chukwuma could not let go as he promised to teach him (Bassey) a lesson for daring him.
"After school hours, Chukwuma mobilized some of his clique of friends (feared to be cult members) against Bassey to actualize his earlier threat", a source told Saturday Sun.
During this time, our source continued,"Bassey had already run into a waiting commercial bus on his way to his home at Jikwoyi Phase I, but Chukwuma and his group ran after him dragged him out of the bus andclubbed him into coma before running away."
The gang, Saturday Sun learnt, attacked their school mate-victim with various kinds of dangerous weapons, including broken bottles, matchet, iron bars, clubs and so on. They descended on the hapless Bassey, leaving him with gaping cuts all over his body.
Rushed to the hospital
Attempt by one Oliver, a friend and school mate of Bassey's, to rescue his friend from the monsters sent him to the hospital bed with a battered head.
According to sources, the two friends were rushed to the nearby Customs clinic by the school authority but they were referred to the General Hospital Asokoro, owing to the severe nature of their injuries.
At the Asokoro General Hospital, they were further referred to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja. But the already-unconscious Bassey could not make the long journey. He died on the way, leaving behind his friend, Oliver with a battered head to mourn his death.
Trading blames
When Saturday Sun visited the school on account of the incident, the principal of the school, a woman of a seeming northern extraction, declined comments on the matter. Rather, she referred our reporter to the police, whom she said are investigating the matter.
But sources at the school blamed the authority for handling the matter with kid gloves and allowing it to escalate into the tragic death.
Also corroborating the version of our sources, a nephew to the late Bassey, Master Utibe Nsini, blamed the school authority over the incident.
Police move in
At the Karu police station, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), B.S.A Jonack also referred our reporter to the FCT Command, stating that he was not competent to comment on the case.
At the FCT Police Command, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ativie Ehiomele confirmed the incident, but promised to supply detail information on a later date, as the officer in charge was not on seat.
He also confirmed that some students have been arrested in connection with the incident, but could not come out with a specific number of those arrested.
School moves to salvage situation
Meanwhile, the school authority called an emergency meeting of the Parents Teachers Association [PTA], on Saturday, June 4, 2005, to douse tension generated by the tragic occurrence which was already causing serious concern among parents over the safety of their wards.
But, as the time of compilling this report, the body of the young Bassey, who is the first son from a family of four was still lying cold in the mortuary - stone dead.