Family of slain Air Force school student demands justice

The family of the Assistant Head of the Air Force Comprehensive School, Kaduna, Felix Blaise, allegedly murdered by his seniors, on Sunday, called for justice.

A family member simply identified as Paul, an uncle to the slain student, while speaking to newsmen in Kaduna, on Sunday, insisted that the relevant law enforcement agencies should conduct a thorough probe of the incident.

PUNCH Metro gathered that Felix was allegedly murdered by two Senior Secondary students 3 of the school in the dormitory within the Air Force Base in Mando, Kaduna.

A parent in the school who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity disclosed that the two senior students had just finished their West African Senior Secondary School Examination allegedly beat the SS2 student to death for punishing a junior student who happened to be a schoolboy of one of them.

“Felix was summoned by the two senior students and beaten to death because he was said to have punished a junior student who was a boy to one of them. It was the junior student who reported him to his school father”, she said.

The body of the deceased was said to have been deposited in the mortuary pending the conclusion of an investigation to unravel the cause of his death

The uncle who said the late student was an orphan whose parents died in 2013, maintained that the best the management of the school and indeed, the Nigerian Air Force, could do to honour Felix, was to unravel the circumstances that led to his death.

He added that he visited the late Felix during the Sallah break and he was hale and hearty while noting that he and the entire family were still in shock over the death of his nephew (Felix) whom he described as a brilliant and disciplined student to the core.

“We were assured that an investigation is currently going on to fish out the culprits and see that justice is served

“We as a family trust in the integrity of the school and the Air Force and we are confident that the killers of our son will not escape punishment,” he said.

He said the family was informed about the death of their nephew by the Education Secretary of the Air Force-based school, whom he did not mention his name.

Although the Nigerian Air Force did not disclose the name of the victim and cause of the death in a statement on Sunday, it said a thorough investigation was ongoing to unravel what led to his death.

According to the statement issued by the NAF spokesman, Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, “The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar and indeed the entire NAF family are saddened by the painful and unfortunate incident of the untimely death of one of our students at Air Force Secondary School, Kaduna on June 19, 2024.

“To avoid all sorts of speculations, a thorough investigation is currently ongoing to unravel how, why and what actually led to the death of the victim.

“Rest assured that this matter is receiving the utmost urgency it deserves, and we won’t rest until it is unravelled,” it said.

When contacted by PUNCH Metro, the school management referred our correspondent to the statement issued by the NAF spokesman.

Meanwhile, PUNCH Metro on Sunday gathered that two senior secondary school students had been arrested and detained in connection to the incident

A source told one of our correspondents that the two students were arrested and are currently in an undisclosed detention facility.

The source told one of our correspondents that the incident occurred on June 19, 2024 where the two SS3 students invited him to their room to punish him but ended up allegedly killing him.

“What I gathered was that the two SS3 students who just finished their WASSCE and were waiting for the NECO examination invited Felix who’s an Assistant Head Boy to one of their rooms to punish him.

“I gathered that the two SS3 students suspected to be behind the act had been arrested,”  the source added.