Group demands probe into Danjuma’s mysterious death, two years on

Two years after the death, under controversial circumstances, of a middle-aged man simply identified as Danjuma, a non-governmental organization, Project Charilove, has appealed to the Edo State House of Assembly and other relevant authorities to institute a probe into the death.

The NGO, based in Benin City, said Danjuma was left to die a “most miserable and avoidable death by the roadside in 2014.”

The said Danjuma, who was physically- challenged at the time of his death, was salvaged from the dustbin by some concerned citizens and taken to the Edo State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development for rehabilitation and protection, but due to alleged official negligence, he was abandoned and died a few days later.

He was said to have spent over 30 days at a refuse heap before he was rescued and handed over to the ministry to be treated. He died on the street in front of his uncle’s house, where he was allegedly dumped by officials of the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

Former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Florence Igbinigie, who took the deceased to the hospital, said Danjuma was fully recovered when he was discharged from the hospital.

However, Project Charilove, in a petition to the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly on the need to probe Danjuma’s death, which was signed by its founder and coordinator, General Chris Omusi, said his questionable death should not be dismissed as a run-of-the-mill occurrence.

“Could this not be a clear expression of the way the poor, helpless and the voiceless are treated in this country? I wish to insist most passionately that Danjuma’s death be probed. We, hereby, call on the Edo State House of Assembly through the Speaker to institute a public probe as a matter of urgency into the circumstances surrounding the death of a fellow citizen,” the petition read.