(http://edge.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Soriweri-360x422.jpg)The House of Representatives has assured the family of the late Gabriel Soriwei, a 20-year-old student of Electrical/Electronic Engineering, who died in Cyprus, that the circumstances surrounding his death would be made known to Nigerians.
Gabriel, a student at the Cyprus International University in the north of Cyprus, under the control of Turkey, reportedly died on September 7, 2013, after a woman, driving a car, knocked him down.
His father, Patrick Soriwei, told the House Committee on the Diaspora in Abuja on Wednesday, that the authorities in Turkey had shielded the identity of the woman and also concealed information on investigation into the incident from his family.
In an emotion-laden voice, the father of the deceased told the committee how his late son's school also treated his death with disdain.
He informed the committee, chaired by Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, that the Turkish Embassy in Nigeria too did not show any interest in the death of his son.
According to him, Gabriel went into coma after he was knocked down on July 13, 2013. Patrick added that he travelled to Cyprus, where he found the boy on a life-support machine in a hospital.
He said, "I went to the police to complain, to see the lady who drove the car. I was denied access to the lady because they claimed that was not their procedure. So, I didn't even see or know who knocked down my son."
After spending two weeks with Gabriel, Patrick told the committee that he returned to Nigeria when there was evidence that Gabriel was improving.
However, he said he received a shocking telephone call from the President of International Students in Cyprus, who informed him on September 7 that his son had died of a heart attack.
"Turkish Airlines called me and said they were sending a cargo to me. Gabriel was buried on September 20," he added.
The bereaved father said he sought the committee's intervention because all efforts he made so far through other Federal Government agencies to get to the root of the matter had not yielded any results.
He also said none of Gabriel's personal belongings was sent to Nigeria with his corpse.
"We appeal to the committee to intervene for justice to be done in this case. Gabriel is my son; he is dead and I feel the pain. But, there are other Nigerian youths out there.
"They should not suffer the same fate. His school did not even write a condolence letter to the family," the bereaved father lamented.
Dabiri-Erewa assured him that the committee would liaise with the Nigerian Embassy in Cyprus to find out what happened.
She said, "We must know how the boy died; what did the embassy do about it? We will investigate this issue and get the police report on the matter."
Source: Reps to probe Nigerian student's death in Cyprus (http://www.punchng.com/metro/reps-to-probe-nigerian-students-death-in-cyprus-2/)