Encomium
Daniel Oikhena, the stowaway boy who hid in the tyre compartment of an Arik Air plane at the Benin Airport thinking he was headed to America only to find himself in Lagos has been the major topic of discourse recently. He has since been passed to and fro, from the FAAN officials at the Lagos airport to SSS officials in Lagos and then to the Edo State government. ENCOMIUM Weekly spoke with his mother, Evelyn Oikhena, via telephone. The mother of four told us how she handled the situation, why she might not accept Daniel’s father into her life again and how she feels about how things have turned out.
What really happened the day you realised your son was missing?
When I found out that he wasn’t at home, I went to the police station. They told me to hold on for 24 hours before they would declare him missing. When I left the police station, I went to my church to inform them about what had happened.
How do you feel about all that has happened so far?
The most important thing is that he is alive. When I heard about what he did, I almost collapsed. I was surprised at what he did and I was surprised that he survived. I am just happy that my son is alive and safe.
What do you think made Daniel do what he did?
It’s the movies he watches. He watches movies a lot, and he tried to do what he watches in them. He thought it was easy to just go to America like that. When I even saw him, I asked him why he did it. I was just surprised because he doesn’t even have friends. He’s always at home with his younger ones. My first daughter is in school; she attends Federal Government Girls College. Whenever they’re watching movies, he’s always telling his younger ones that one day he will go to America by aeroplane.
Is he back in the house with you?
No, he is not. He is in the Ministry of Youth and Social Welfare and I was told that they would call to let me know when they would release him to me. But I’m always allowed to visit him whenever I want to.
What role did your husband play since you realised Daniel was missing?
The very day Daniel got missing, I called him in the morning. He came towards the evening time. When I told him I was going to the police station he went with me. But when we got there he did not appear as his father. I was the one that wrote the statement and explained things to the policemen. The very day we learnt he was in Lagos, he said he won’t move an inch from Benin. That I should know how I would bring my son from Lagos because he would not have time to travel to Lagos. I told him not to worry that I would go and bring him myself. He didn’t care to know how much I spent to go to Lagos, or what I was doing to make sure they release him to me. He was the one that called me that my son was offered a scholarship, I told him if he’s after the scholarship, I am not. I am after my son’s well being.
When I told him that, he came immediately and said he and his mother are worried and I’m not carrying them along on the situation of things. They thought I was given money by the government. He was saying Daniel is his son, and the truth is I am not denying him his son or taking his son away from him. His son answers his father’s name. So do I. It’s just that we’ve not been together for a long time. I am surprised at the way he made it seem like I was taking his son away from him.
With the way things have turned out, is there any chance that you will accept your husband back if he apologises to you?
I don’t like what they did to me, even though I had it in mind that we would settle and come back together. But with what he and his family did to me, I don’t think so. His younger brother was telling me things like, “You think you’re a smart woman. Don’t you know that child has a father.” As if I was dragging Daniel with them. I then sent him a message that they are just after what will be given to the child and not after his well being or how he will come back home. I now told them that his sister would be going to school next week Saturday and I need about N80,000. I have N40,000 it remains N40,000. I asked them if they could give me even just N10,000 before Saturday. They don’t even know how the children go to school or how I feed them. They don’t even know the name of the school the child went to before I changed him to his present school. I don’t like the way they treated me at all.
Though your son did a bad thing and almost got himself killed, looking at the positive side, how do you feel about the privileges he would enjoy now?
Forget the negative part, I am happy he is alive. But so far, I have only heard and read so many things in the papers about scholarship from Osun state government, but I have not seen anything from them. The only one I am sure of is from Governor Oshiomole and he said he would train him up to university level and that was the day they took him to the governor’s office.
How many children do you have for your husband?
I have four children for him, three boys, and a girl. My first daughter is 16, Daniel is 13, the other one is 9 and my baby is 6.
– TINUOLA JOSEPH
