Family Claims Negligence As Young Anambra Student, Chimdalu Onyekwuluje Dies

Chimdalu Onyekwuluje, a boarding student at St Michael's Boys College in Ozubulu, Anambra State, died recently. His death comes little over a month after that of Sylvester Oromoni, a boarding student at Dowen College in Lagos who died as well.

Onyekwuluje, an 11-year-old JSS 2 student of the school, was said to have died as a result of negligence on the part of the school management, who refused to call his parents to pick him after he fell ill.

He has since been buried at Uzoakwa, Ihiala, Anambra State, in his family compound.

Parents of the deceased, Prince Cornelius and Ogochukwu Onyekwuluje, who spoke to journalists during the burial of their son said even when the student’s health had totally deteriorated, the management insisted he must stay behind to finish his exams before he would be released, saying the decision was the reason for his death.

He reportedly died on 17 December 2021, nine days after he was picked up by the parents after a cousin to the deceased borrowed a phone to alert them that the boy was ill.

Onyekwuluje said: “My son, Bright Chidalu Onyekwuluje died out of negligence on the part of the school. He was sick, and they refused to tell us. It was my son’s cousin that borrowed a phone to call his mother to tell us to come and pick Bright that he was dying.

“He told us he has been the one backing him from the school hostel to the classroom every day, to sit for exams.

“Even after the call, I reached the guardian of my son, but he lied to me that the boy was okay and that it was nothing serious. I insisted on coming from Port Harcourt, Rivers State where I live to pick him, and they insisted it was nothing serious.

“When I insisted I must see him, I was surprised the boy looked so bad that he was already dying. I asked the guardian if this was the boy he said was alright, but he did not answer. Now I have lost my only son,” he cried.

Meanwhile, the principal of the school, Rev Fr Romanus Ike Muoma has denied that the school management delayed in releasing the student to his parents.

Fr Muoma, who spoke to DAILY POST in his office during a visit said: “The boy was seen here in school moving about with other students, days before his father came. What we have here (college) is not an auxiliary nurse, but a qualified nurse from Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, and we pay heavily for his services.

“The boy was diagnosed with malaria, and was immediately put on treatment, and afterwards, he was okay. When it was found that the boy was ill again, it was the guardian that called the parents to come and take him.”

When told that the deceased's cousin was punished by the school for calling the parents to inform them of the illness, Father Muoma said the boy was only made to kneel for a few minutes and that it was against the rule for students to call parents because calls are only made from a central point by management. The Onyekwuluje family, on the other hand, has expressed an interest in seeking justice for their son. Mr Ben Onyekwuluje, the deceased's elder brother, said the family has filed a plea with the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, and that the family will not rest until justice is done.