The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government Monday demanded for justice over the mysterious killings of Nigerian students in Northern Cyprus universities.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, disclosed this while speaking on the sudden and mysterious death of a 25-year old Nigerian student in Northern Cyprus, Ibrahim Khaleel Bello, and others killed in such strange circumstances in the country.
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Speaking while receiving a petition in Abuja from a judge in Kaduna State High Court, Justice Amina Ahmad Bello, on the mysterious and inexplicable death of her son, a third-year civil Engineering student of Girne American University in Girne (Kyrenia), Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Dabiri-Erewa condemned the killings of Nigerian students in Northern in that country.
NiDCOM boss called on parents to be wary of sending their wards to Northern Cyprus as the country is not recognised by the United Nations except the Republic of Turkey, adding that Nigeria has no diplomatic ties with that country.
She proposed that the country “should be blacklisted given the preponderance of Nigerian students who have died mysteriously in that country without any prosecution or compensation whatsoever.”
She assured the delegation led by Justice Bello that NiDCOM would work with the Ministry of Justice, Nigerian Mission in Turkey and other relevant agencies to ensure justice is done, saying “the death of Ibrahim khaleel Bello should be a tipping point to end the continuous killings of Nigerian students in that country.”
Dabiri-Erewa reiterated her appeals to Nigerian parents to desist from sending their children to Northern Cyprus for any studies as most of the courses are not accredited and they end up killing these students, many of them unreported.
”The time has come for us to blacklist all these universities in Northern Cyprus and advise our students from seeking any form of admission there as it portends danger to their life and future,” she said.
She added that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation has already reported the matter to Interpol for further investigation.
Earlier in an emotion-laden voice, Justice Bello, mother of the deceased, said her insistence on justice was not only for her son but also for other Nigerian students who have died mysteriously in the Girne American University Girne (Kyrenia), and other universities in Northern Cyprus.
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She narrated how her son was allegedly murdered and covered up by the authorities in Northern Cyprus as well as the university authorities, claiming it was a suicide mission having fallen from a seven-story building.
She insisted that the report be investigated and all those found culpable to be prosecuted as there was nothing to show that her son committed suicide.
Justice Bello said hours before her son was killed, she spoke with him, and he was expressing fears on his safety in the university environment.
”I don’t believe it was an accident or a suicide as I went to Cyprus barely 24 hours it happened and got to the mortuary where there was no scratch or wound on his body.
”I suspected foul play that my son was killed as the school was non-challant in breaking the news to me on my arrival there,” she said.
Justice Bello said hours before the boy died, he sent her a WhatsApp message: ”Mama, Please I want to come back home. Wallahi if I stay here, I will just die here without anybody batting an eyelash. I just need to come back home. Mama, please try to understand that this isn’t a place for me.”
She alleged that it’s possible some of the killed Nigerian students’ vital organs were harvested as her son’s stomach was opened and sutured when the corpse was finally released.
Late Ibrahim Bello was among about 100 Nigerians killed and murdered in mysterious circumstances from 2016 to 2020 without prosecuting any of the assailants.
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Other victims include, Kennedy Taomwabwa Dede, 28, student of Eastern Mediterranean University, killed on February 1, 2018; Walshak Augustine Ngok, a student of Marine Engineering at Near East University, murdered on April 19, 2019.
Others were: Gabriel Soriwei, a first-year student of Electrical Electronics at Cyprus International University, Nicosia; Osabanjo Adeola Owoyale, 33, went missing and found dead on July 1, 2019.
The list also included: Augustine Wallies killed on April 19, 2019; Stanley Eteimo, 28 years; Hassan Babatunde, 28, murdered; Temitayo Adigun, killed; Kubiat Abasi Abraham Okon, 24, killed; Oziegbe Gospower Airekugose; and Olasubomi Ope; among others not reported.
