Mother Suspects ‘Foul Play’ After 13-Year-Old Son Drowned In Kubwa River
A grieving mother, Rebecca Isaiah, suspects foul play in the death of her 13-year-old son, Victory, who allegedly drowned in a river in Kubwa, Abuja.
Isaiah, who spoke emotionally on Brekete Family, a programme on Human Rights Radio, Abuja, expressed doubts about the official account of events leading to his death.
Victory was a student of Government Junior Secondary School, Kubwa 2, Abuja.
Isaiah said, “On March 5th, 2025, I came back from work around 7.15 pm, and I met my daughter, Deborah, crying. I asked her what happened and she told me that she was looking for her brother; Victory is not yet back from school… I told her to accompany me and let’s go and look for him at his friend’s house. We went there and they said they had only seen him in the morning at school.
“I decided to call one of the teachers and tell him what happened. He forwarded the principal’s number to me and asked me to call him. When I called the principal, he asked me to come to the school. When I got there, I met the security men and told them about my son and they said that it is not possible that any student will be in school because after school, they usually go round to ensure that no child is left behind.
“When the principal came, he asked if I was sure that my son was in school today and I said yes. He told me that I should come back the following day so that they would check the register if my son was really in school.
“He also advised me to go to the police to complain about my son missing but when we got to the police, they said that it was not yet 24 hours and that I should come the next day.
Isaiah continued, “We went back to the school the next day; the principal sent for the class teacher who brought the register and it was confirmed that he was in the class that fateful day. The principal also asked about my son’s character and she said that he was a good and intelligent boy. She said that even during the break period, he sits down in the class copying notes and doing some other things.
“She was asked if he had a friend and she mentioned his friend as Destiny. They asked her to call Destiny. They now told us to go to the police station, as we were not supposed to be around when the school was doing its investigation. He said that if he has any information, he will call us.
“So we went to the police station and wrote our statement. They asked for my son’s picture, which we submitted. We were on our way back to the school when the principal called us. I was happy. I thought they had found my son only for the principal to start talking about me staying strong. That my son drowned in the river.”
According to Isaiah, her son, who was in Junior Secondary 2, was last seen alive by his classmates, who claimed they went swimming together in the river.
However, she disputed this account, saying that from the account of an eyewitness, her son was pushed inside the river by his friends and left to drown.
“The boy that came out to say the truth from another school said that the other children that took my son to the river pushed him inside the river… that he was struggling to hold on to something, but they kept pushing him down until he now fell inside. They took his school uniform and his school sandal; they removed his books and kept them beside the river and took his bag with them,” she narrated.
According to her, the school authorities have maintained that the incident occurred outside school hours and therefore, they are not responsible.
However, the devastated mother is not convinced, alleging that the school is trying to cover up the incident.
The police are currently investigating the matter, but Isaiah is worried that the school may be influencing the investigation. “I suspect that they have told them (the students) what to say or face expulsion.”
Isaiah pleaded for justice for her son, who, though not biologically hers, has been in her custody since he was one year old.
“The death of this boy pains me so much because these children are orphans. The boy was one year and eight months old when I took them. His sister was three years old. I was single. Where I was working then, I was being paid only N12,000. I passed through hell as a single lady because of these children. I could not finish my school. To feed these children was very difficult for me.
“Because I took in these children as mine, so many men rejected me. They said they can’t take responsibility for another person’s child. It pains me so much that after I had trained this boy for 13 years, some children decided to kill him inside a river and said I should take heart. I can’t take this,” she lamented.
Mother Suspects ‘Foul Play’ After 13-Year-Old Son Drowned In Kubwa River is first published on The Whistler Newspaper
