Veritas University, located in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, maintained for weeks that Joshua Daniel, a student of the university, had died after he slumped at the school gymnasium on April 30. However, his family suspected foul play and commissioned an autopsy.

Recently, Ifeoma Ejigbo, the mother of the deceased, has come forward alleging that three students of the university have been arrested and charged with her son’s murder. This revelation, made in an interview with HumAngle, comes after months of perceived inaction by authorities. A student from Veritas University who was close to the late Joshua also confirmed the arrest.

“The suspects are in police custody,” said the student, who requested anonymity.

The police have yet to officially confirm the news, and efforts to reach FCT Police Commissioner Benneth Igweh have been unsuccessful.

Mrs Ejigbo recounted that an acquaintance approached her husband with the information that the police had summoned the suspects to the station on July 16. The acquaintance also notified them of a hearing in Jabi two days later. Following the hearing, a professor from Veritas University contacted her husband to inform him that the suspects had been remanded in Kuje prison.

Joshua’s parents felt sidelined, so they reached out to their lawyer immediately.

“Our lawyer said we should have been informed, but since they didn’t, maybe they didn’t require our presence then until evidence was required from us, but out of courtesy, they should have informed us about the progress they had made with the case and the steps they were taking,” she said. 

Mrs Ejigbo thinks that the police are suddenly going overdrive to prove that they are doing something after allowing the case to stall for months.

“It is because we petitioned the commissioner of police through the inspector general to the House of Representatives, and they have been invited for a hearing, so that’s why in a week there has been an arrest and in a week, they have gone to court,” she stated. 

Ifeoma expressed displeasure over the development. As the mother of the deceased, she feels that the police should have carried her family along every process, from the investigation to the arrest of the suspects and the court trial. 

“Someone from the school said that it was the boys who killed my son, and if that is true, why did the school hide it from us from the beginning? Why is it okay for them to suddenly hand over the boys and suddenly start an investigation?” Mrs Ejigbo lamented.

However, the family remains deeply troubled by the secrecy surrounding their son’s case. The mother of the deceased questions the university’s initial account and their alleged failure to disclose their knowledge of the suspects. Additionally, she has not received the finalised autopsy report despite paying for it.

HumAngle tried to reach Ben Agande, the spokesperson of Veritas University, to comment on the development, but all efforts proved abortive.