 |
| L-R-Ozuah’s sister, Uju Ifet; his widow, Joan; and deceased’s sister, Uzo Nwogu. |
Tears and tributes flowed freely at King’s College,
Lagos, on Wednesday as family and friends held a memorial service in
honour of Ugochukwu Ozuah, a 36-year-old engineer who was allegedly
killed by policemen five days after his wedding.
Ozuah, who graduated from King’s College in 1993, was
once the Sports prefect of the school. Some of those present at the
event were; members of the King’s College Old Boy’s Association,
ex-colleagues of the deceased at University of Ado Ekiti and University
of Lagos, where he was pursuing a Master’s degree in Operational
Research; as well as the principal and current students of the college.
Ozuah’s Chelsea Football Club jersey, inscribed with
the word, ‘Hugo 10’ was seen hanging from the ceiling of the auditorium
while many wore a black T-shirt displaying the deceased’s picture.
The three
sisters of the deceased, who read tributes,
described their brother as a loving and kind person who was always
willing to help those in need.
The eldest sister, Nkechi Nnonyelu, said in a written
tribute that it was sad because she planned Ozuah’s wedding and just a
month later, she was planning his burial.
The wife of the deceased, Joan, said in a written tribute that their five days of marriage were the best days of her life.
Joan said, “Sweets, so it is true that you are no
more. I can’t believe that you have gone so soon. You were my husband,
my brother, my friend and mentor. I can’t forget that fateful night of
September 20, when the police shot you in the chest and left you to die
in cold blood. It was like a dream when the doctor told us that you
couldn’t make it.
“Baby love, you were a caring, loving, God-fearing,
calm and thoughtful man. Your desire was to make me happy when I was sad
and you were an awesome husband. The last words you said to me before
you left were, ‘my wife, my wife, I’m coming back in 10 minutes’ as you
drove off to drop your friend and never returned.
“My husband, you were a real gem, you made me have
the wedding of my dream and I’m grateful for those five days we spent
together. It was the most exciting moment and days of my life. Sweet,
sweet, it is true that death is inevitable but the memories of your
personality will definitely live forever. I ask no questions for God
knows best. I will miss you. I love you sweet.
The head boy of King’s College, accompanied by other pupils sang the school anthem in honour of the deceased.
It was noted in his biography that apart from being
the Sports prefect, the deceased was Harman’s House prefect, a position
he was very proud of.
It was learnt that he bragged about how his son would also attend King’s College and also be in Harman House.
Ozuah studied Mechanical Engineering at UNAD and in
2009 proceeded to the Koenig Information Technology Institute, India,
where he studied Computer Engineering.
Ozuah was due to write his final examination in Operational Research on Thursday (yesterday)
Representative the UNILAG authorities, Dr. Olusoji
George, the Postgraduate Coordinator, Business Administration, said
UNILAG condemned the murder of its student allegedly perpetrated by the
Nigeria Police.
George described Ozuah as a brilliant student who was
very caring, adding that his death was a loss to the department because
of the dearth of personnel in that particular field of study.
“Who in PG did not like him? For his colleagues to
turn up for this event when there is final and compulsory exam tomorrow
shows the kind of person he was,” he added.
One of the four Vice-Presidents of the King’s College
Old Boys’ Association, Mr. Rotimi Aladesanmi, also berated the police
and urged the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to take
the case seriously.
“Whether it was policemen or people in uniform that
did it, we don’t care. All we want is for the IG to fish out the killers
of this Nigerian because I say enough is enough,” he said.
-Punch
R.I.P Ugo Ozuah!
No comments:
Post a Comment