As Americans commemorate the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, no fewer than 372 non-Americans from 102 countries were also killed.
The only Nigerian fatality is Godwin Ajala.
Ajala was called to the Nigerian Bar about a decade before the incident, and had left Nigeria in 1995 in search of greener pastures, according to an article by American academic and researcher, Maria Quintana.
Ajala was one of the 11 security guards at one of the towers of the World Trade Centre and is reported to have saved hundreds of lives, guiding them to safety as the planes struck.
He repeatedly went back inside to guide more people out of the blazing structure but having got exhausted and reportedly first went into a coma, died the following Sunday after the attacks.
He was 33, and his name is inscribed on the official National September 11 Memorial & Museum roll of victims.
Ajala was the son of a retailer from Ihenta, a small town in the present-day Ebonyi State, and was married with three children when he decided to emigrate with plans to later get his young family to the U.S.
Prof Quintana writes that Ajala had been in several menial jobs, then landed the Access Control Officer job at the World Trade Center towers in New York.
He worked in this position while preparing to take the New York State Bar Exam’s Specialised preparatory courses, but failed despite three attempts, available records showed.
Editor: Ken Eseni
