By; KELVIN OKPARA, Enugu
The family of Mr. Cosmos Offo, a middle aged man and foodstuff trader at the Kenyetta Market in Enugu South Council Area of Enugu State, has been thrown into mourning, as their fifteen-year old son, Master Ebube Offo, has taken his life after drinking a substance confirmed to be Snipper insecticide.
Our correspondent gathered that the deceased, who untill his unfortunate demise, was an SS1 student of Malex International School, located at No 2A, Niger Close Uwani Enugu, was previously expelled during the second term of the ongoing 2024 academic session by his former school, Evangel Secondary School, situated at No 24, Ishiagu Street, Achara Layout Enugu, owned by the Assemblies of God Church Nigeria.
Confirming the ugly development to our correspondent today in Enugu, elder brother to the deceased, who gave his name as Mr. Onyedika Offo an undergraduate, said the bereaved family is yet to recover from the shock of “Ebube’s death which occured on Wednesday.
The Senior Offo, who disclosed that they hail from Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu State, said the deceased was the fourth child of their parents who are blessed with five children.
According to him, “I was in school when I got the information last Wednesday that Ebube my younger brother drank a substance suspected to be Snipper, after which he was confirmed dead. He was depressed because of the suspension his school Malex International School gave him.
The suspension was because the principal of his former school, Evangel Secondary School went to tell the principal of Malex all manner of lies and unprintable things against him. But instead of taking sometime to monitor and watch if what the Evangel principal told them about my late brother were true, the management suspended him form the school, leading to him suffering depression.
He said prior to his death, the family members, particularly their mother who operates a provision store at Bishop Ayiogu Street, Uwani, Enugu had observed that the deceased was exhibiting some strange character, adding that he was always moody and unhappy.
“Whenever you ask him what the problem was, he will tell you nothing, that all was well with him. We, his brothers and sisters kept asking him if there was any issue, but he never told us that any thing was bothering him, until that Wednesday”
Late Ebube, was said to have been shown the exit door at the mission school by its management over his alleged involvement in some immoral conduct unbecoming of a student.
After his expulsion from Evangel Secondary School, the parents went to enroll him at Malex School at the beginning of the ongoing third term academic session, where he was also recently suspended by the school headship .
It was learnt that after hearing that Malex International School has enrolled the deceased, principal of Evangel School went to see the management and hinted them the reason why the late student was expelled from her school, and discouraged them from having the deceased as their student.
Uncomfortable with the information released to them about the deceased by the Evangel principal, the Malex management did not hesitate to slam an indefinite suspension on the deceased, a development that led to his depression at home, as he was no longer going to school.
Efforts to speak with the Enugu state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Daniel Ndukwe on the incident was not successful as his mobile phone could not go through as at the time of filing this report, just as the principal of Malex International School could not be reached.
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