Widespread condemnations have
continued to trail the death of a 15-year old student of Army Day
Secondary School Obinze, Miss Queendalin Ekezie, who was punished to
death by a soldier attached to the 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze, Imo
State for coming late to school.
The victim was said to have collapsed
after she was commanded to do frog jump by the soldier who ignored plea
that she was exhausted.
According to eyewitnesses, the
teenager started vomiting blood before the soldier who is yet to be
identified left her without any assistance.
Meanwhile the Imo government has launched investigation into the matter with a promise to bring the killer soldier to justice.
The State Commissioner for Education,
Mrs Gertrude Oduka, however has said that the State government would not
be in a hurry to conclude on the incident.
She disclosed that some senior staff in her Ministry have been sent to inquire about the remote cause of the incident.
“We have launched investigation into
the matter, the matter is so sensitive that we would not like to be in a
hurry to issue any statement, but we have dispatched senior staff to
find out what has happened”, Oduka said.
But the father of the victim, Mr Hyginus Ekezie, said that his family has decided to let the matter be.
Ekezie who spoke to our correspondent ,
at the family residence in Ama Oso, Umuagwo in Ohaji/Egbema Local
Government Area of Imo State , said that he decided to forgive the
killer of his daughter after due deliberations with his kinsmen.
According to him, “there is no point
talking about this issue again, we have decided to allow peace to
reign, we have forgiven anybody who might be involved in the death of
our daughter, God knows best. I sat with my kinsmen and they told me to
forget all that have happened” Ekezie said.
He disclosed that a delegation of the Army have already visited his family to pay their condolence.
It would be recalled that Queendalin,
who got to school late on that fateful day, was punished by a soldier
who ordered her to “frog jump” until she got exhausted and passed out.
Delight Aguocha , Queendalin’s friend
who witnessed the incident had earlier narrated that, “on that day, we
had set out at 7am. We waited for a motorcycle to take us to school till
it was 8am. When we became frustrated, we decided to board a commercial
cab. But the driver did not leave the motor park until the car was
filled with passengers.
“When we got to school at 9am, we met three sets of late comers on the ground. Two soldiers
were asking each set to do frog-jump to a particular distance after which they picked their bags and entered their classes.
“When it was our turn, we were about
reaching the finishing line when they said we were not doing it right
and we should start again. After we repeated it, we went to pick our
school bags, but one of the soldiers said he was still not satisfied.
“I completed the punishment the third
time and I picked my bag and left. I suddenly discovered that my friend
was not with me. When I returned to the place, I saw her crying. She
started vomiting the food she ate that morning. She was saying, ‘my
back, my chest.’ The soldiers were just staring at us.”
She added that when they got to the
hospital, the victim was given an injection and was put on a drip, but
unfortunately she couldn’t survive it”.
The Nation
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