September 7, 2024 was a black Saturday for the family of Mr David Achinya in Taraku, a community in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State. It was particularly so for Mrs Doosuur Achinya, a 20-year-old widow whose husband, Terhile Timothy Achinya, was cut down in his prime. On that day, some soldiers attached to the security outfit Operation Whirld Stroke, in Lafia, Nasarawa State capital, tortured to death the final year student of Isa Mustapha Agwai Polytechnic (IMAP), Lafia, after he was picked up by the military around 2pm on September 6 on his way to the examination hall. A friend and course mate of the late student, Olagundoye Favor, had given him a ride on a motorcycle on their way to school when the military personnel picked them up for reasons that remain yet a mystery, took them to their detention facility and subjected them to serious torture in the process of which Achinya died. Achinya, a student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering was billed to graduate on September 9, but his dream of becoming an engineer was aborted two days before it materialised. The development has ruined the life of his widow, Doosuur, and their two kids aged one and three. Embarrassed at the death of the student in their custody, the military officers led by one Captain Kaakara allegedly tried to deposit the corpse of the late student at Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital Lafia, but the authorities of the hospital rejected the corpse when the military officers could not produce a police report. Olagundoye Favor was however admitted at the hospital and treated for the internal wounds he sustained from the soldiers’ beating. Following the rejection of Achinya’s corpse at Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital, our correspondent gathered, the soldiers decided to take it to the laboratory of the Anatomy Department of the Federal University of Lafia (FULAFIA) where corpses are used for practicals by medical students. Surprisingly, the lab attendants of the University accepted the corpse for their students’ experiments without demanding to know the circumstances surrounding it. Doosuur, who has yet to come to terms with becoming a widow when she spoke with our correspondent, said she could not believe that all the hope that she and her husband had nursed about being successful in life had been dashed by his sudden death. “He was left with just a paper to complete his engineering programme when the soldiers killed him,” she said. “He had called me in the early morning of September 6 as he was set to go for the exams. “He spoke to his two kids and assured them that in the next three days, he would sit his final and join them to celebrate his graduation. “Little did I know that I would never see him again in my life “Every day, his two kids ask after him, saying, ‘Mummy, when is Daddy coming back? Not knowing they will never see him again. “My life is ruined and there is no hope for me again. The military officers have finished me. “Killing my husband for no justification and leaving me behind with these little kids is too much for me to bear. “Life will never be the same again.” She said Achinya’s ambition was to complete his OND in Mechanical Engineering and proceed for his HND, but his dream of becoming an engineer was cut short by the errant soldiers. “We could not achieve our dreams together as death snatched him from me unannounced,” she said. “I wept bitterly because of the enormous things we planned to do after his graduation. “I am depressed. The military officers have deprived me of peace of mind at the young age of 20, and I won’t have peace of mind for the remaining period of my life. “The killing of my innocent husband was a devastating blow. “I have been waking up in the middle of the night to weep bitterly since my husband died. What is the future of his two kids? “Who is going to train them? Who will take care of them? I have no means of livelihood. “All along, our hope was that he would complete his OND and look for something doing before furthering his education.” The distraught widow says all she wants is justice for her late husband. “I want the soldiers who killed my husband arrested and made to face the law. He did not do any wrong thing to them,” she insisted. The murdered student also left behind aged parents who are also crying for justice in respect of the gruesome murder of their son. The father of the deceased student, David Achinya, who described the incident as unfortunate, called on the authorities to make sure that the military officers involved are made to face the law. FULAFIA faces public scrutiny Although the Federal University Lafia (FULAFIA) was not involved in the torture and death of the student, the institution faces an uphill task to exonerate itself from the entire episode for the simple reason that its Anatomy Lab accepted an unauthorised corpse without any written document. The Taraku community in Benue State strongly believes that the action of the lab attendant of the Anatomy Department was meant to prevent traces and create imaginary mystery. The late Achinya, until his gruesome murder at the hands of the soldiers was a graduating Mechanical Engineering student of Isa Agwai polytechnic, Lafia. The Nation investigation revealed that the deceased student was arrested on Friday September 6, tortured and killed on September 7. In a desperate move to cover up for the crime, his killers took his corps to the Dalhatu Arab Specialist Hospital Lafia where it was rejected because of their refusal to write a statement. Hence they donated the corps to the anatomy department at the Federal University of Lafia. Investigation revealed that the deceased was whisked away by the military personnel operating under the auspices of Operation Wild Stroke with a certain Captain Kaakara … Read more
