An Economics student of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Damilare Taiwo, has reportedly died a day after he resumed for training at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), throwing his family into mourning.
Authorities at the military academy located in Kaduna reportedly said the 20-year-old slumped and died during a training session last Tuesday.
But the family told PUNCH newspaper that the circumstances surrounding the death were suspicion, claiming the graduate of Oriwu Model College, Ikorodu was beaten to death.
A prospective second class upper graduate, Damilare was a native of Ile-Ife, Osun State with a dream of becoming an army officer.
He had applied for the Regular Combatant Course of the NDA in 2015 at 17 but did not make the list of the successful candidates. Undeterred, he reapplied for the programme a few months ago.
He was shortlisted on August 8, 2018, among the 10 selected candidates from Osun State for the 70 Regular Combatant Course, coincidentally at a time when he was rounding off his first degree project.
His father, Taiwo Oyedele, who saw him off to Ikorodu Garage on August 25, said: “He left Lagos for Kaduna that Saturday, a day after he concluded his project in school, and reported at the training camp on Monday, August 27.”
Mr Oyedele said his son’s death came to the family as a rude shock.
“He finished his secondary school education in 2014 and gained admission to UNILAG the same year to study Economics. He was just 20 years old. He just completed his project.
“When he wanted to leave for Kaduna that Saturday, I advised him to be a good ambassador of the family and prayed for him. He was an easy-going child. He had always wanted to be a soldier.
“In one of his pictures on Facebook, he edited the image of the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed in the N20 note and replaced it with his picture. That is to tell you the passion he had for the Force and how far he wanted to go.
“He had been showing interest in the army since 2011 when he was 13. It is so unfortunate that he could not accomplish his mission.
“The army sent some officers to us last Thursday to tell us about his death. They told us that he collapsed during a training session on Tuesday (August 28),” the grieving father said.
Oyedele, a building material dealer, described his son’s death as devastating to the family, lamenting that they had invested so much hope in him.
His wife was beyond consolation.
“I don’t want my son to die in vain. The military said he would be buried in Kaduna, but I don’t want my son to be buried there. They should bring his corpse to Lagos,” she cried.
