The Life of Destiny Victor Paul, and the Soul of Our Nation

“Àgbà wá bùrà bí ewé ò ṣe é rí…”

“Let an elder swear that he has never been like a child or behaved as a child behaves.”

On March 20th, 2025, Destiny Victor Paul, a 16-year-old boy, the only child of his parent, full of dreams and promise, was confirmed dead, allegedly shot by a 64-year-old attorney in Owerri, Imo State, while trying to retrieve his ball from outside the school compound.

Shot on the 17th.
Rushed to the hospital.
Gone on the 20th.

I have been heartbroken since I heard the news. And no matter how much I try, I cannot unfeel it. I cannot unsee the image of a child gunned down in daylight, for no just cause. Not for theft. Not for violence. Not for threat. Just a ball.

Growing up, many of us were fortunate not to have encountered the kind of adults Destiny did. We made mistakes. We crossed boundaries. We trespassed unknowingly. We played freely, recklessly even, because we were children, and children will always be children.

I remember in primary school, following a friend after school to what he said was his father’s farm. We dug up yams, roasted them, and ate to our fill, only to find out later that the land didn’t belong to his father. Anything could have happened to us that day. We could’ve been harmed. Shot. Reported. Beaten. But we were spared, because back then, adults still remembered that children are not criminals, they are growing humans.

But today?
Today, a child is killed over property.
Over suspicion.
Over nothing.

Let us be clear: No property is worth the life of a child.
There is no justification, not morally, not legally, not spiritually, for using deadly force to protect things, while destroying lives.

We must ask: How did we get here?
What have we become?
What kind of nation turns a weapon on its children and still sleeps at night?

Our moral compass is broken.
Our sense of humanity is fading.
Our children are paying the price.

We must remember:

• That we were once children too.
• That childhood is not a crime.
• That children need guidance, not gunshots.

My heart goes out to Destiny’s guardians.
To his friends.
To his schoolmates.
To his family who must now live with the echo of his absence.

And to all of us, because we are all diminished by this loss.

Parents, I beseech you by the mercies of God:
Let us sit with our precious children. Let us talk to them, honestly, patiently and use Destiny’s story as a sober, teachable moment. The world has changed, and our children must learn to tread cautiously in situations like this and others that pose danger or misunderstanding.

This tragedy happened in a school, and it reinforces a principle we’ve consistently taught:

Every child has a right to play, but that right must be exercised under responsible supervision.

It is heartbreaking that no adult was reportedly present when the children were playing football. We are told it took a neighbor, not a teacher or school staff, to raise the alarm, after Destiny was shot.

This incident occurred at 12:34 p.m.. a time that clearly falls within school hours. Destiny was on school grounds.
So we must ask, as a society that claims to value children:
Where were the teachers?
Where were the adults whose duty it was to protect him?
Where was the system meant to safeguard his life?

We cry for justice, but justice in Nigeria remains a luxury often denied to the powerless.
Still, we must cry.
We must speak.
We must not be silent.

Today, I raise my voice, not only for Destiny, but for the dream of an egalitarian Nigeria:
A country where incidents like this are prevented,
And where they are not, where justice is certain, swift, and blind to status, wealth, or tribe.

We do not want palliatives.
We want justice.
We want peace.
We want equity.

We long for a society where the dignity of the human person, conferred by God is recognized in every child,
Not questioned by prejudice, dismissed by power, or destroyed by fear.