Nigerian doctorate student Thomas Orhions Ewansiha died of natural causes while in immigration custody two years ago, the Kuala Lumpur Coroner’s Court ruled today.
During the inquest proceedings, coroner Mahyon Talib ruled that his death in 2019 could not be concluded to be caused by negligence or criminal element.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, who represented the family of the deceased, confirmed today’s verdict in the inquest.
“The judge concluded that Ewansiha died of natural causes; it cannot be concluded that his death was because of any negligence or criminal elements.
“The judge also said the (immigration) officers were not trained.
“We are appealing (to the High Court),” the counsel said when contacted after the proceedings.
Ewansiha, who was a 34-year-old student of a private college in the Klang valley, died at the Immigration Department detention depot in Bukit Jalil in the early hours of July 9, 2019, after being arrested five days earlier.
Three days later on July 12, the Immigration Department confirmed the death in custody incident.
Civil action
The Immigration authorities claimed that the student was detained on July 4 that year during an Immigration operation in Desa Aman Puri Apartment, and subsequently placed under remand for 14 days to verify his documents and seek confirmation from the college on his attendance record and details of his course.
The victim's wife, Blessing Uhunoma Eriamiator, had called for an inquest into Ewansiha's death. The inquest hearing was then registered at the court in November.
The deceased’s family claimed that Ewansiha had been asking for medical assistance for three days prior to his death.
It was also reported by online news portal Free Malaysia Today that the deceased's family would be filing a civil action over his death, regardless of which verdict the inquest would have arrived at. - Mkini
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