River Rerun: Slain Corps Member to Be Immortalised

River Rerun: Slain Corps Member to Be Immortalised

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Mr Samuel Okonta,  a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member who was killed during last weekend rerun elections in River State will be immortalised, the state government has stated. 

 

The government also announced  that  it would provide  all necessary  assistance  for the police to investigate the killing of Okonta with a view to  identifying those responsible  and prosecuting  them.

 

The state Governor, Nyesome Wike, stated this at the NYSC camp in Port Harcourt as he also declared an increment in the monthly allowance of corps members serving outside Port Harcourt from N10, 000 to N15,000, while that of those serving in Port Harcourt was increased from N5,000  to N10,000. 

 

He expressed sadness that the corps member died serving the nation and announced that the Rivers State Government would take care of the family of the late corps member.

 

Wike noted that the death is even more painful because  the corps member was an orphan who suffered through schooling  and was on the verge of being of help to his immediate  family. 

 

He said, "The death of this corps member  is unfortunate  and condemnable.  I urge the Police to thoroughly  investigate the crime. The outcome  of  the  investigation  should  be made public so that those involved  are prosecuted. The killing  of  this corps member  must not be  swept under the carpet. 

 

"I call for post mortem on the corpse of the corps member so that we can  ascertain  the  type of bullet and type of  gun that killed him. The post mortem will also determine who bears that type of gun that  killed  the corps  member ".

 

The governor also said  his administration  would take measures to improve security  in the state, adding that steps would be taken to ensure  that  the incident  does not reoccur. 

 

He also commiserated with the Department  of  State Services  over the death of their member in last Saturday’s poll.

 

State Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Ngozi Nwatarali, commended the  governor  for commiserating with the NYSC  at its moment  of grief but appealed  for greater protection  for corps members  during  elections.