The Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta (OSAPND), Hon Kingsley Kuku, has clarified the circumstances surrounding the death of Cadet Godwin Ezebri, the amnesty trainee who died aboard a seafaring vessel, MT Guatemala in Panama.
Reacting to complaints of neglect of family, Kuku, who spoke through Mr Daniel Alabrah, Special Assistant/Head, Media and Communications of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (OSAPND), denied that the family of the deceased has been abandoned, stressing that the case was resolved with the payment of compensation to the family.
He said, “Contrary to reported claims by some members of the deceased’s family, we affirm without any iota of doubt that compensation to the tune of Eighty Seven Thousand, Five Hundred Dollars (USD87,500) had been paid to the family through the deceased’s Next of Kin (names withheld). Leader of the family acknowledged receipt of the compensation via an electronic mail to the OSAPND dated March 11, 2015, in which the family confirmed that the issue of compensation has been settled.
“Also as part of efforts toward alleviating the pains of the deceased’s family as a result of the incident, the OSAPND offered the late Godwin’s younger sibling, who had just graduated from the School of Nursing at Eku, Delta State, full scholarship in any university of his choice anywhere in the world. It is, therefore, uncharitable for anyone to infer that the OSAPND might have abandoned the deceased’s family after his burial.“
Niger Delta Report learnt that the compensation was paid after the report, “Two years after, controversy over Amnesty trainee’s death unresolved”, was filed. Beyond the issue of compensation, the report looked at the circumstances and controversies surrounding Ezebri’s death.
Also exposing on the controversy, Alabrah said, “Mr. Godwin Ezebri was deployed in August 2011, after passing a medical examination, to the Gdynia Maritime University, Poland, to undergo Marine Navigation course through Global Oil Services Limited, one of PAP’s offshore training partners.
“He commenced his training on August 22, 2011 and after graduating as a Marine Navigator, he boarded the MV Green Guatemala Bahamas-flagged Ship on February 28, 2013 for his sea time programme. But unfortunately, he died on June 6, 2013 shortly after he reportedly complained of chest pain on board the vessel.”
Explaining further, he said on notification of Ezebri’s sudden death, the Amnesty Office promptly contacted members of his family, by which time the Panamanian authorities had already conducted an autopsy on his body to determine the cause of death, the outcome of which was stated in a report as “sudden death of cardiac origin”.
“It is however pertinent to note that the Panamanian authorities neither sought the deceased family’s consent nor that of the OSAPND before carrying out the autopsy.
“Consequently, our office initiated appropriate administrative and diplomatic steps on the circumstances of his death, even as arrangements were made for return of his remains to Nigeria on July 13, 2013 via Lagos, a decision that was taken in conjunction with members of his family.
“Thus, ahead of the scheduled arrival date, the office sent a team to Lagos to receive his body and hand over to the family. Every arrangement was put in place, including logistics by the OSAPND for the deceased’s family, four of whom were in Lagos with our team.
“But in a sudden twist of events, about 9pm on July 12, 2013, while the body was already airborne, the deceased’s family through Larry Ovwromoh & Associates, Legal Practitioners and Notary Public, informed the OSAPND’s team that owing to some irregularities surrounding the management of the death, the family will no longer be in a position to receive the corpse.”
The family, he said, demanded an inquest with their representative and appointed pathologist present to ascertain the cause of death due to contradictions on the time of death. “While the coroner’s inquest stated that Godwin Ezebri died at 9.15am on June 6, 2013, L. Sapelevics (Master M/V Green Guatemala) said he died at 20.45pm on June 6, 2013.
“On this ground, the deceased’s family members left in the morning of July 13, 2013 without seeing the aircraft or casket conveying their late son and brother.”
An OSAPND team received the body deposited the remains at the mortuary of the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Myhoung Barracks, Yaba (68 NARHY), Lagos.
“On July 22, 2013, we met with members of the deceased family, led by Elder Pax Ezebri, where it was resolved that the family should nominate a Pathologist to carry out an independent investigation of the cause of death. While we awaited the nomination from the family, Marine Mutual Services Limited (representatives of the Ship Owners) sent a mail informing us that the matter had been reported to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), which is charged with the responsibility of dealing with all aspects associated with the death of a Nigerian seafarer as well as liaising with the ship owners and the family.”
Alabrah disclosed that the meeting with NIMASA held on August 12, 2013, with officials of the OSAPND, ship owners’ representatives (Louis Mbanefo & Co) and the deceased’s family.
Pursuant to the resolution at the meeting, he said the family nominated Dr. N. A. Awolola and Dr. C. C. Anunobi to lead other doctors/pathologists in determining the cause of Godwin’s death. The OSAPND, the ship owners and NIMASA also sent their doctors to witness the second autopsy, which was carried out on September 3, 2013 at the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Lagos.
“Part of the report read: ‘It is our opinion the absence of vital organs of the body, particularly the heart (since the first autopsy claims death was due to cardiac origin), makes it difficult to confirm or refute the cause of death. By extension, it also limits our ability to consider the possibility of natural causes of death.’”
Explanation on the missing organs was requested from the Ship Owners through their representative (Louis Mbanefo & Co) while OSAPND also sent an official to Panama for enquiries concerning the missing organs.
The General Manager of the Funeral Homes Panama, Mr. Glen Hutchinson L. F. D explained: “In his body cavity and organs first stage of decomposition… the organs were not shipped with the remains because tissue gases, food and other substances which was found in organs would have contaminated the remains”.
The ship representatives later notified OSAPND that they had ascertained that the Funeral Directors did not dispose of the heart and brain, and that arrangements had been made to ship them to Lagos.
“The services of Prof. Williams Odesanmi, an internationally recognized Forensic Pathologist was nominated by the deceased’s family and engaged to lead other pathologists to do the DNA matching and determine the cause of Godwin’s death. All the expenses were taken care of by our office.
“The package said to contain the organs of late Godwin was received by the deceased family Pathologist, Dr. N. A. Awolola, in the presence of other doctors representing NIMASA, OSAPND and the ship owners. It was thereafter deposited at the 68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital for custody and further analysis.
“A full DNA profile of the deceased was subsequently extracted from the tissues taken from his body. However, the tissues taken from the organs sent from Panama had no profile indicating that the tissues sent from Panama and received on April 6, 2014 do not belong to deceased. Therefore, the cause of death of Godwin Ezebri could not be established.
“After due consideration of the circumstances, the family pathologist advised that the body could be buried since a full DNA profile of the deceased was available at the Genetic Laboratory, an advice the deceased’s family accepted unconditionally, paving way for his peaceful burial on December 5, 2014 at Egodor, Delta State. The Special Adviser’s office also took responsibility for the burial expenses, including provision of logistics for the deceased family members to attend meetings in Lagos and Abuja preparatory to the interment.”
Alabrah also debunked claimed by a family source that Kuku failed to condole with the deceased’s family when the incident occurred.
“The Amnesty Office is a responsible and responsive Federal Government department highly committed to the welfare and safety of all trainees/delegates within and outside the country. The office had not and shall never be complacent with the fate of its stakeholders, not the least an unfortunate incident such as the death of Godwin Ezebri aboard a foreign vessel.”
He vowed that it “will continue to work with the family of the deceased and other stakeholders to ensure that justice is seen to be done.”
