Ifeanyin Kalu’s family in Lagos are currently bearing an extremely heavy burden.
His lifeless body is said to be in the mortuary of the Nigerian Air Force, Lagos, while his mother’s body is in another mortuary in the same city.
While the mum, Mrs Oluchi Kalu, passed away in August – she was said to have died of cardiac arrest – Ifeanyin, a dancer, actor and arts instructor, was said to have been knocked down on Ikorodu Road October 20, 2021, while he was on his way to work.
The family are thus double-bereaved and are also crying for justice.
Phenomenal.com.ng learnt that they are expecting compensation from NAF, but the Force was said to be offering them N200,000 towards his burial.
There is indeed a major confusion over the amount being offered and what it is meant for.
A top artist who relayed the sad development in a Facebook statement on Wednesday, Segun Adefila, said the family were indeed crying for justice.
In a chat with Phenomenal.com.ng, Adefila said the family felt double assaulted by the amount the NAF was offering as compensation.
“It is very sad, honestly,” Adefila, who is the founder and director of Crown Troupe of Africa, said. “Ifeanyin was knocked down while going to the school where he taught students arts.”
But authorities of the Nigerian Air Force have said that the money being offered is not for compensation.
According to its spokesperson, Eyitayo Atteh, the amount is N300,000, not N200,000.
He noted that it was only a form of support for the family based on what was agreed upon with them.
In a phone interview with Phenomenal.com.ng on Wednesday, Eyitayo said the accident actually happened on what he called a BRT corridor, suggesting it is a spot no one is even expected to cross.
Many Lagosians would, however, note that the Lagos State Government does not permit non-BRT buses to ply the road too.
Atteh yet added the NAF was not basing its stand on the issue of where the accident happened, but rather agreed to support the family based on their request.
“We are even the one who reported the matter to the police. We had a meeting with the family. I represented the Air Force. They requested support towards the burial of the deceased. They actually requested N500,000. You know that it is something to request an amount, it is another to offer what is immediately within capacity and based on the issue. That is why we offered to support them with N300,000. This, as I said, is a support towards the burial.”
Eyitayo admitted that Ifeanyi’s body is still in the NAF’s mortuary.
But, according to him, it will be released once the family request it, while the N300,000 will also be released accordingly.
Also speaking on the matter, Ifeanyi’s brother, Ikechukwu Kalu, noted that the NAF said its vehicle only brushed Ifeanyi, who was then, according to the NAF, allegedly knocked down by a hit-and-run vehicle on the main road.
“But investigation we made in the area revealed that the impact from the NAF’s vehicle was already terrible. Those around the place said it was what actually brought down my brother, before it landed on the main road.”
Ikechukwu noted that, their mum, whose corpse is also in the mortuary, earlier died of cardiac arrest, according to doctors. He added that she died in August, two months before her son’s passage.
“It is a very tough situation for us as we speak. My mum and brother are in mortuaries. Different mortuaries in the same city. I am a fresh graduate without any job yet. It was Ifeanyi who was supporting us from his little earnings. Now, he has been knocked down,” Ikechukwu added.
Meanwhile, this is how Adeila originally told the story in a Facebook post on Wednesday:
IFEANYIN KALU CRIES OUT.
Ifeanyin was a young Nigerian artist who was diminutive in stature but gigantic in strides. His life was one huge struggle for survival without a thought for crime but through a dint of hard work.
He was a prominent member of the Bariga Artists Forum (BAF) and Guild of Nigerian Dance Practitioners (GONDP). He was also a founding member of Dachrismofa Art Troupe and an alumnus of Feetprints Africa and the assistant director of Kings and Queens Art Academy- a children focused theatre group.
His creative energy lit up every gathering he attended.
Born on the 15th of July 1990, Ifeanyi was the second son of his economically disadvantaged family and the fourth child. He was a major breadwinner of the family, a bread not only rarely gotten but also never buttered.
Their mother and matriarch of the Kalu clan passed on on the 27th of August 2021.
On October 20, 2021, Ifeanyin’s life was cut short on the express way of Ikorodu Road. He lived with his aged father and 6 siblings and left them at home on that fateful day for a job he just secured. He was on his way to a school where he was helping to teach the pupils cultural dance and music.
A Nigerian Air Force vehicle traveling on a BRT lane knocked him down.
Ifeanyin’s body is still in the Nigerian Air Force base mortuary.
Ifeanyin’s mum is also still in another mortuary.
His bereaved family who are definitely inconsolable at the moment also stands the risk of not getting any form of tangible compensation from those whose vehicle knocked him down EXCEPT.. .
