SSS Quiz Teenage Stowaway’s Mother

Mrs Evelyn Ohikhena

Security agents have begun a probe into the circumstances that led 15-year-old Ricky Daniel Ohikhena to sneak into the wheel of an Arik Air fight to Lagos last Saturday as they interrogated his mother, Mrs Evelyn Ohikhena. She was grilled by a combined team of  the Department of State Security (DSS) and aviation security officials.

Mrs Ohikhena, a hairdresser who resides in Benin, in an apparent effort to unite with her son had earlier yesterday told reporters that her son had been secretly nursing an ambition to travel to the United States without her consent.

It was gathered that as soon as Mrs. Ohikhena went to the airport on the advice of the men of the Evbotubu Police Station, Benin City, where she went to report that her son was missing, the Airport Manager, Mr. Sunday Ayodele, ordered her arrest and detention.

However, a DSS operative who refused to disclose his name said the woman was invited to make a statement, adding that after that, she would be allowed to go since her son was already in their custody in Lagos.

Mrs. Ohikhena, who has called on relevant authorities to help secure the release of her son, had told reporters that Daniel had long been secretly nursing the ambition of travelling abroad without her knowledge.

Narrating her experience, Mrs. Ohikhena, a mother of four children, said she heard the news of his stowing away in the Arik Air plane from her elder sister-in-law in Germany who drew her attention to the incident.

“When we were looking for him, his nine-year-old younger brother said that anytime they were watching film, he always say he will go abroad; he will go to airport to enter plane . He told me to go and check the airport. I did not believe him," she said.

She added that a day before the incident, she had left home to pass the night with her elder sister who recently gave birth to a baby and when she returned home, his son was missing.

“I left home around 9 am on Friday night to my elder sister’s place that gave birth to pass the night. When I came back the following morning, my daughter told me that both of them had an argument, that she found him watching film when she woke up to go and ease herself and that he broke the television when rebuked. She said when she later woke up in the morning, she could not find him again.

"I did not maltreat him.  I don’t joke with my children’s welfare. He does not have friends; he hardly leaves home. I don’t know why he was going to Lagos.

“When I heard the news, I did not know what to do or say. I was so weak. Many people were telling me to calm down. My only joy now is that he is alive; that is my happiness," she said.