For Daniel Ohikhena, a Junior Secondary
School (JSS) One pupil in Benin, the Edo State
capital, his dream was to travel by air. He did
it in a sensational way on Sunday. Daniel hid in
the tyre compartment of an Arik Air flight
from Benin to Lagos.
He never told anyone about his passion to be
on a plane, not even his mother. His only
confidant was his younger brother who he
always told that he would one day travel
abroad on an aircraft.
Last Saturday, Daniel attempted to realise his
dream: he sneaked away from home to the
Benin Airport. Undetected, the teenager got to
the Arik plane. He grabbed one of the aircraft’s
tyres, held on to it for the duration of the
flight, apparently less than an hour.
Like the Biblical Daniel, who escaped the lions’
fangs when he was thrown into their den,
Daniel Ohikhuna survived the flight to the
Murtala Muhammed Airport in Ikeja, Lagos.
It was not until he was caught in Lagos under
the Arik aircraft that the stowaway realised the
risk he had taken.
Following his arrest and his story in the news,
security agencies went to Benin for his
parents. They got his mother, Mrs Evelyn
Ohikhena. She was quizzed yesterday at the
Benin office of the Directorate of Security
Services (DSS).
Mrs Ohikhena addressed reporters yesterday
after her interrogation.
She said her sister, who lives in Germany,
informed her about Daniel’s adventure.
The mother of four, who lives at 6, Ehigiegba
Street, off Goodwin Street in Benin, said she
was still confused and in shock over the
incident.
She said: “When we started looking for him, his
nine-year-old younger brother told me that
anytime they were watching movies, Daniel
always said he would take an aircraft to travel
abroad. The boy asked me to check for Daniel
at the airport. I did not believe him.
“I left home on Friday to pass the night at my
elder sister’s home. When I came back the
following morning, my daughter told me that
he and Daniel had an argument on Friday
night. She said she did not find him around
the following morning.”
Mrs Ohikhena debunked the insinuation that
the boy might have made his dangerous
journey following an ill-treatment meted out to
him at home.
She said: “I did not maltreat him. I don’t even
joke with my children’s education; I give them
the best education. Everybody knows me. Ask
of me at Oba Market (in Benin). The only thing
that bothers me now is how my daughter will
go to school, a Federal Government college.”
Giving an insight into the teenager’s life, Mrs
Ohikhena said: “Daniel does not have friends.
He hardly leaves home. I don’t know where he
was going in Lagos; we don’t have any relative
in Lagos. I have never been to the airport. But
I cannot deny the fact that he might have been
to the airport when he was attending a private
school, but I’m not aware of when this
happened.
“When I heard the news, I did not know what
to do or say. I was very weak. Several people
asked me to calm down. My only joy now is
that he is alive; that is my happiness. I want
the government to help me. I did not send
him. I’m innocent.”
DSS Director Bakori Tukur said the security
agency invited the mother for questioning and
not to arrest her since her son was already in
custody.
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