We reported yesterday the death of Nwusulor Dorathy Akuchia (Dora) a law graduate of Ebonyi State University (EBSU) in a fatal accident on her way to resolve a problem she had while in school. However, facts have now emerged to indicate that there is more to what led to Dora’s death.
Fom various accounts, Dora was the first female president of the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN) in EBSU and got into serious trouble when she was accused of embezzling the funds generated for the student association’s annual dinner. The trouble continued even after she graduated and went to law school, as it was said that a peition written to the Council of Legal Education prevented her from sitting for her bar final exams. According to the story, the deceased was already seated for her exam, when she was called out of the Hall by the Examiners to be told of “a confronting petition” against her, disqualifying her from sitting for her bar finals. She lost the chance to sit for her Exams that year with her mates.
There are now accusations and counter accusations from various quaters alleging foul play regarding Dora’s death. There is also a petition presently by the EBSU student union to the VC and call to law enforcement agencies to investigate Dora’s death .
Read some of the accounts we have gathered below:
Joebliss Nnamdi Ekechi wrote:
On the painful passing of Miss Nwusulor Dorathy- her travails.
Miss Nwusulor Dorathy Akuchi, was the first Female President of the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria (LAWSAN), Ebonyi State University Chapter, a very coveted Office which she was appointed into to defy the conventional Elections of the Faculty which had gone wild during her time, after she secured the wholesome trust and confidence of both the Faculty Management and the Students, given her excellent Academic performance, having represented her Class as a Senator at the LAWSA House of Assembly, and having also served her Class, the Law Class of 2021 as a Course Representative.
Dora met her crossroads when she kicked off preparations for the annual and compulsory LAWSA Dinner for 2021, and began raising funds from external sources to augment the meagre resources she inherited with office. Being a vibrant young lady, beautiful and brave, Dora found favour with which she staged a record-breaking Dinner for the Faculty at that time.
It was at this point that her fighters came. They demanded a cut from the Money she realised from her donors independent of their efforts, and when she insisted on applying the whole Money to the Dinner for which it was raised, they moved to pull her down. They incited Students against the Dinner, discouraged and threatened attendance of same, but because Dora was a Child of grace, that Dinner did not just succeed, it is still very famous as one of the best events in that Faculty, especially as it secured the presence of notable bigwigs both in the State and in the Legal Profession.
Dora thought she had succeeded, the stress she pulled through planning that eventful Dinner was almost washed away by the cheers and commendations which followed her success. Everything fell in place for her until spells of an indicting petition brewed the Faculty. Her Fighters who were just very few persons from her own class and other heros, had gone ahead to recruit more men into their conspiracy. Their communication rose so vast that they grew into multifarious groups: Forum of LAWSA Course Representatives, Forum of LAWSA SUG Stakeholders, and CONCERNED LAW STUDENTS Forum, all driven by one egocentric mantra “Dora Must Account.” The members of this group were one, and had just a purpose: to bring Dora to her Feet, and to keep Dora back in the Faculty, for what reason? for refusing to give them a good cut of the LAWSA Cake, and for looking down on the canvassed pride of place they held in the Faculty of Law.
To pursue this selfishness, her fighters rose a petition inquiring into Dora’s expenditures of the money she raised for the Dinner in her place as a LAWSA President, and summed it up with an allegation that Dora embezzled a humongous amount of money running into many millions in their words, and being the money raised for the Faculty Dinner. They prayed the Faculty to harass her graduation and copied same to the School Management, in response to which a Panel of investigation was set up to hear the petition.
I believe grace saw her through again, and she got the leniency to proceed to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus in furtherance of her Studies. Her fighters roared and neighed, and swore to march her feet to the Nigerian Law School. Their ploys and antics were almost failing until the day of Dora’s Bar Finals. She narrated that she was already seated for the epic Examination, having merged her posture to her Examination Number, expecting her Examination Papers, when she was called out of the Hall by the Examiners to be told of a confronting petition against her, disqualifying her for the life time Exams for which she had spent time and energy preparing. Eventually, Dora lost the chance to sit for her Exams that year with her mates, she was not called to the Nigerian Bar, and was not also sure of resitting the Exams since her petitioners sought her expulsion from the Nigerian Law School.
Dora died yesterday en route to the Lagos Campus of the Nigerian Law School to resit her Bar Final Exams after years of investigation and query. God had shown her mercy, but her fighters, her petitioners prevailed.
Depression killed Dora, pains killed her. We have lost a lady of substance, we have lost a beautiful and brave fellow, we have lost a star in Dora. May God avenge her death.
Read the account of Emmanie Ebuka who was one of those who wrote petition against Dora while still in school
DISCLAIMER
I woke up to some posts on allegations that I with some excos from my set in which I was a signatory to the petition. Did we write a petition to the VC of EBSU? Yes. Did we write a petition to Law School? No. Few days to our bar finals a petition was sent to Law School from someone I don’t know asking Law School to pend the admission of the former LAWSA President who just lost her life in an accident (May her soul Rest In Peace). Now, how will I in far away Abuja fighting for my life in Law School be doing to stop someone from writing her bar final exams? As you can see our alibi already established we have no hand in any letter sent to Law School days before our Bar finals.
Over the years, there have been reports and petitions from students and lecturers asking student leaders to account for money which was allegedly mismanaged by those student leaders. Asking the former LAWSA President to account for money she was allegedly accused of mismanaging is not a crime. The petition which I was a signatory to, led to the set up of a panel headed by the Dean. After weeks of adjudication on the case, they found out through her statement of account and the statement of account of LAWSA that she made some withdrawals and some amount of money which was allegedly being mismanaged. She was asked to just return 500k out of the total money which she was meant to return to LAWSA account. That was where it ended. Who wrote to Law School? Sincerely, I don’t know.
When she made an appeal. I was doing my clearance then. I went for the appeal and told the panel that I was tired of the whole thing and that I wasn’t going to be part of it anymore. She admitted to the allegations and apologized to me and the other excos. I accepted her apology and told her to make peace with anyone she knew she was meant to make peace with in order to make her free to write her Bar Final exams. That was all.
About the accident, it’s a pity. I sincerely, feel bad about what happened to my classmate who was the President. Up until we had issues of her alleged embezzlement of school funds we were friends. I supported her in class rep elections and all. We never meant any harm to happen to her. All we wanted was accountability. Ogbu was asked to account and even the recent SUG President was asked to account too. So what’s with these hypocrites who even wrote petitions against student leaders in the past making it look like we did something bad. I was the Director of Socials then and all the petitioners you see there had one significant position or the other. We wrote to the VC and the VC cleared her even without her paying back the money she was meant to pay back to the school. They should go and hold the person who wrote to Law School if they know the person and stop trying to tarnish the image of innocent people. I appeal to security agencies to hold Justice Emeh, Awo Kingsley and their carbal if anything happens to me or any of the excos in my set who were petitioners in the petition that was forwarded to the VC of EBSU. Thank you all. And May the soul of my dear classmate rest in the bosom of the LORD, AMEN.
The Petition to the Vice Chancellor of EBSU
CONCERNED EBSU COMRADES FORUM
Injury to one is injury to all!
The Vice Chancellor,
Ebonyi State University,
Abakaliki.
Your Excellency,
THE INHUMANE DEATH OF THE LATE MISS NWUSULOR DORATHY AKUCHI- DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RESTITUTIVE ACTION, PRIOR TO INTRACTABLE DISORDER.
The above subject matter refers.
Vice Chancellor Sir, the lady in discourse, Miss Nwusulor Dorathy Akuchi (first Female President of the EBSU Chapter of the Law Students’ Association of Nigeria-LAWSAN), who was before now a Law Graduate of Ebonyi State University, and a Candidate of the Nigerian Law School, Lagos Campus, and who is now passed; died on Tuesday, the 2nd day of May 2023, en route to Lagos to resolve the several issues she incurred from the extra-procedural actions of this University under your care.
Dorathy was alleged to have embezzled certain amount of money meant for a purpose in the Faculty of Law (stories of which you carefully followed), an allegation which she innocently braved following the findings of the Panel of Inqury set up by this University to probe her case, but was subsequently summoned for this same case by a different body, boycotting the subsisting decision of this University which ought to have defeated and precluded all else.
Dorathy whose death would have been avoided if Ebonyi State University took charge of its own affairs as precluding external intrusion, was the breadwinner of her four siblings, one of whom she was footing her tuition prior to her ugly demise. Dorathy ought to have been called to the Nigerian Bar since 2022, but for the unjustified snares of this University, which took her through contest of decisions, multiple unwarranted disciplinary actions consequences of which led to her death.
Alarmed by the above gross indifference to the welfare of a Student of this great University; worried that if her case is not properly investigated to dig out truths justice would be defeated; very worried that if the cause of this undeserved death is not carefully rooted out it would have encouraged the recurrence of same; therefore demand as follows:
- That the multiple actions, all the roles which led to her death be meticulously reviewed by a joint Panel of the Management and the Students, to particularly find out the true events that led to her death.
- That while this investigation is underway, the University Management immediately recalls the Certificate of the Students numbering eight (, who were signatories to the contentious petition that claimed this life.
- That the departed Dorathy be given a School-wide befitting burial accompanied by a solemn procession which the Students’ Union shall observe in her honor together with the Faculty of Law.
- That the business of the Students’ Union in the Faculty of Law be reviewed to accommodate sanity and coherence.
- That Ebonyi State University shall take full responsibility of the funeral rites of Miss Nwusulor Dorathy, the death of whom the University caused, and shall also assume other sundry responsibilities arising therefrom.
- That the Panel which the management shall see dig deep into fishing out some lecturers who are fingered as being the masterminds of this injustice.
- That we give Ebonyi State University Management a seventy-two (72) hours Ultimatum to meet these demands or risk the explosion of an intractable Protest across the University Community. The 72hours will expire on Monday, 8th May, 2023 by 8pm.
This is signed by:
Comr. Nwuruku Olisa Alfred, CNS
Former Coordinator,
NANS Zone B South-East South-South
Comr. Agbom Benjamin Sunday,
SUG President,
EBSU 2020/2021 & National President, National Association of Ebonyi State Students’ Worldwide
Comr. Okeh John Kingsley
Chairman,
NANS JCC, Ebonyi State
Comr. Eze Chimezie Kingsley,
Chairman, NAUS, Ebonyi State
Comr. Uguru Joseph Anayo, Esq.
SUG President, EBSU 2015/2016 session
Comr. Egbe Collins O
EBSU SUG President 2016/2017
Comr. Ogbu Emmanuel O
SUG President EBSU 2017/2018 session, 2019/2020
Comr. Abani Sampson
SUG President EBSU 2019/2020 session
Comr. Okporo Camilus Ositadimma,
EBSU SUG President 2021/2022
Comr. Agbadu Christian
NANS Stakeholder, Ebonyi State
Comr. Eze Basil.C.
President, Faculty of Basic Medicine and the Coordinating President EBSU Faculty Presidents Forum 2018/2019 Session
EBSU 2018/2019 session
Comr. Albino Malachy Nnaji
JCC Chairman NANS 2008 session
Comr. Prince John Ogar, Esq.
Former President, NANS Sierra Leone Chapter
Current President of NANS Diaspora and Member, Ebonyi State NANS Stakeholders Forum
Comr. Ikechukwu Onwe
Comr. Chima-agha Ndukwe
Cc:
Governor of Ebonyi State
Speaker EBHA & Governor elect
Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State
Director, Department of State Service, Ebonyi State
President, EBSU Alumni
Dean, Faculty of Law
Dean Stufdents’ Affairs, EBSUt
Sub-Deans of Students’ Affairs EBSU