Posted by From TIMOTHY OLA, Maiduguri on
Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, on Wednesday expressed shock over the murder of a top Editorial Board member of This Day newspapers, Mr. Abayomi Ogundeji.
Former Abia State Governor, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, on Wednesday expressed shock over the murder of a top Editorial Board member of This Day newspapers, Mr. Abayomi Ogundeji.
Kalu described Ogundeji's death as a burden which all Nigerian leaders should bear following their inability to provide for millions of compatriots.
'This is a burden, something all of us, leaders, must shoulder. Nigerian cannot even rely on the state for protection of lives and property. We have lost yet another life to assassins who seem to be outnumbering our security agencies,' he said.
The ex-governor could not control his emotions when he read newspaper reports that quoted Ogundeji's little boy as saying his father 'went to the police station and would soon be back.'
'That part of the account touched me. For the four-year old boy, daddy was safe. After all, we teach our kids that police is your friend.' So it would take him a long time to realize that his father would never come back from the imaginary police station,' he added.
Kalu called on the Inspector-General of Police, Sir Mike Okiro, to do the best within his power to fish out Ogundeji's killers.
'I would want the Inspector-General of police, Sir Mike Okiro, to order thorough investigations into the shooting, especially as there are conflicting reports on how the young man died,' Kalu pleaded.
'Ogundeji's death,' he explained 'did not allow me celebrate Dream Team 1V five - star performance against Belgium at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday. I could not be dancing while my colleagues were mourning.'
The Lagos chapter of the Democratic Peoples' Alliance (DPA) also described as shocking the Monday killing of Mr Ogundeji, former spokesman of Labour Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Femi Pedro.
Condemning the killing in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, the party urged the police to fish out Ogundeji's murderers.
According to DPA, 'Ogundeji lived his life as a principled, hardworking young man, who rose to the pinnacle of his chosen profession. It is annoying and saddening that he has been so summarily terminated in his prime.'
'We mourn with members of his family, his employers and his colleagues; and we pray that God grants them the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss. We especially commiserate with his wife, who has lost a worthy companion, breadwinner and father of her children.'
The party said Ogundeji's killing earmarked the state of insecurity under which Nigerians currently live and which has made life unpredictable, short and brutish.
DPA recalled that, its Director of Publicity, Felix Oboagwina, and Ogundeji had practised together at The Guardian and The Punch, where the deceased distinguished himself as a first-class professional and sociable team-player.