How my daughter, Eweme, died like fowl — Lawani, father of 19yr-old undergraduate
Kassim Lawani, a Civil Engineer based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State is not a happy man; no one who has lost a beautiful and intelligent daughter in an unexplainable condition would be.
At birth, Engr. Lawani knew by instinct that his second child, Eweme, was a special gift and christened her ‘Precious’ aside from her other names. Precious grew up to prove his father right by exhibiting high level of academic intelligence and outperforming her peers in every contest.
During her graduation from primary school, Precious scooped many gifts and awards presented by the school management. In secondary school, she repeated the same feat. The future was indeed bright for Precious and Engr. Lawani resolved that no amount of money was too big to spend to ensure that she gets the best education.
After initial hiccups occasioned by ASUU strike and the Covid-19 pandemic, Precious finally settled for an A-Level (JUPEB) Medicine and Surgery, programme at the BOWEN University, Iwo, Oyo State. Barely two weeks after her resumption, Precious died under a strange circumstance that is yet to be unravelled two years after.
How it happened
Fighting back tears, Engr. Lawani narrated to Encounter, how the joy of seeing his daughter eventually following the path to fulfilling her quest of becoming a medical doctor suddenly turned into sorrow for his entire family.
He said: ”My daughter, Precious Eweme Lawani, was admitted into Bowen University, for a one year JUPEB programme around June 2020, after fulfilling their usual admission protocols. I accompanied her to the school when she resumed on November 1, 2020 and was impressed by the school environment.
I settled the necessary bills before returning to Port Harcourt. The truth is that I never envisaged or had the slightest inclination that I had apparently taken my daughter to the school for slaughter.
Almost on daily basis, I called my daughter to check how she was doing. That was the pattern of our communication until Wednesday December 2, 2020 when I called many times and she did not pick my calls. I got worried and called one of the school officials who said there was a network issue in the school but that she will help me reach her. By Friday, I became restless because my daughter never stayed long before returning my calls.”