By Simon Ebegbulem, Benin-City

People may have their different views about the action of the 13-year-old stowaway boy, Daniel Oikhena, but he has become some sort of  a super star, going by the attention being paid to him by  security agencies and the Edo  State government.  Daniel, on Saturday, August  24,  stowed away in the wheel well of an Arik aircraft from Benin-City  to Lagos.

After he was handed over to the Ministry of Women Affairs by the officials of the Department of State Security (DSS) in Benin-City,  penultimate week, Governor Adams Oshiomhole waded into the matter when he decided to meet with  his parents  to see how to assist the boy in his education. Following an  interview with the boy at the  Government House,  the governor was convinced that the boy  was intelligent but the separation of the parents may have resulted  in  his poor upbringing.

*Daniel Oikhena (middle)

Consequently,  Oshiomhole directed the Women Affairs Ministry to take over his training in order to afford  Daniel the opportunity to realize his life’s  ambition. Daniel’s mother Evelyn, had  said the son  wanted to fly a plane to America as a pilot.

Daniel went back to school  on  Monday, 16  September  after he was examined by doctors and a psychologist and was found to be sound. Seeing the boy  now is more difficult than seeing a governor. This is so because the state government had taken up the responsibility to ensure that he gets good education. Efforts to meet him to find out how he was preparing to go back to school were  frustrated by the security around him.

When Sunday Vanguard met with the mother,  Evelyn, to find out  the whereabouts of the son, she said: “It is even difficult for me to see him some times because he is undergoing some training and that is being taken care of by the state government. I no longer have powers over him. It was even recently that I was able to see him.

They decided to allow me see him because they were preparing him to go back to school. The only thing I can say now is that the father and his people are bothering my life. They think the state government gave me money and,  rather than think about the welfare of the boy, they think  it is all about money. They accused me of saying  my husband was sick or was even dead but I never said all that and God knows”.

She continued: All  I said was that he left us and moved to another house. I have told them I was not given any money. What the state government is doing is to give him good education because my son said he wants to be educated and that is why they are sending him to school. He used to be in a private school but he stopped due to the fact that we had  no money because his father was not with us.

But I thank God for his mercy and that is why it is painful, rather for the father to be grateful to God that the son survived in that aircraft, all they have been accusing me is money from government. I am just saying it because if anything happens to me, they should be held responsible since they want to kill me for something I know nothing about. Right from day one, I have been running up and down about Daniel’s matter, none of them cared about what I went through with my children. My daughters are supposed to have gone back to school now but due to no money they have not gone back. Their father does not care about that and it is very sad really”.

Meanwhile,  Sunday Vanguard saw Daniel on his first day at school on  Monday. It was during their break period. Clad in sparkling white shirt and dark green short, the stowaway boy was seen with other students playing. Daniel is in JSS 1 and  a boarding student. You can  only watch Daniel from afar,  you are not allowed to get close to him Sunday Vanguard’s mission was to get him to relate his story in the aircraft wheel well.

Other students were surrounding him.  Apart from the plain  clothes  security operatives that were observed around him, his teachers were always around  as if they were instructed to monitor him 24 hours. Sunday Vanguard met with a top official of the school to seek permission to speak with Daniel but he politely said  it was a difficult task  unless there was an instruction from the Edo Government House.

He said: “You know that he is a government son now; so the instruction is to ensure that he is well monitored both for security reason and his education.  So it is difficult for anyone to speak with him. The idea is to ensure that he forget about what happened at the airport and concentrate in his studies and, so far, the boy is doing well.

We want him to catch up with all he has missed educationally because we understand  he was in a private school before but due to no money he was almost becoming a drop out. Before he enrolled here we were told that he  told government  he prefers this school. And that  is why he was registered here. And if you look at our history, you will know that majority of the great men and women from this state attended this school, so the boy may be in another journey to glory here”.

Going by the situation around Daniel, he has joined the league of those referred to as Oshiomhole’s children. These children are about 20, in different schools, and enjoying sponsorship from governor. Sunday Vanguard learnt that government officials have instructions to  take  care of the children who  must enjoy the privileges accruing to the children of  governor.