A
fresh Cadet of Nigeria Defence Academy, NDA, Kaduna, James Didam Bulus, has
died of alleged brutalisation from senior cadets, 24 hours after he finished
registration and reported to hostel.
Sources
said in Kaduna that people wept uncontrollably at the funeral of the 18
year-old James, with registration number NDA/ 11537, at the Military Cemetery,
on Whaff Road, Kaduna, on Thursday while a contingent of Nigeria Army buried
the late cadet with full military honour, even though he had served his country
for only 24 hours.
Brigadier
General, MG Kangye, Cadets Commandant of the school, handed over the Nigeria
National Flag, a pair of army boot and army ceremonial cap to the mourning
father of the deceased, Mr Didam Joshua, as women cried uncontrollably in the
fenced cemetery. Relations of the deceased cadet were too distraught to speak
to our correspondent, but a close family friend of Joshua said he was beaten to
death on his “introductory” night.
He
said: “He arrived NDA on Saturday, 3rd September, 2016 and on Monday, 5th
September; I was told that he was dead. It was my friend that drove his son to
the gate of old NDA and they parted ways happily.
But, I was told that he died on Sunday after
he did not survive what I was told was ‘introduction’ beatings from his seniors.
At
the mortuary, you could see stitches on his head and he had bruises on other
parts of the body. The NDA said that he died of stomach pain and that before he
could be taken to the hospital, he died on the way.
“I
asked ‘how can such a brilliant, young boy who was very eager, proud and happy
to serve his country get killed just a day when he reported to start what we
all thought will be a brilliant military career?
“How
can a healthy, smart boy who was never a trouble maker have such wounds on his
body, and someone is saying he had stomach problem? God knows the best.
But
it will be difficult for my friend (Joshua) to pull through this agony,
especially his wife, “, he said. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer,
PRO, of NDA, Captain Musa Yahaya, said that James, who hails from Kaduna
municipality, had an accident on the day he was to report and came to NDA with
injuries.
He
said: “It was when the new cadets were queuing to receive their kits that Cadet
Didam slumped. He was immediately rushed to the clinic and was given the best
of medical attention.
When
the doctors examined him, they found out that he had internal bleeding. He had
earlier confided to one of his colleagues that he had an accident on his way to
NDA. But that he was afraid to tell the authority so that they would not reject
him. He was never brutalized. It was an accident that he had. That was what the
autopsy confirmed. He died on Monday.”
Source: Vanguard
Source: Vanguard
Tags
Society