Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa Ibom state, has described as painful, the loss of a child after spending much resources to train one.
The governor said this while expressing grief over the deaths of five National Youth Service Corps members from the state who died in a car accident on Wednesday.
They were involved in the accident on their way to Orientation Camp in Katsina.
Speaking while receiving Shuaibu Ibrahim, director-general, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who was on a condolence visit to him, the governor said he was pained to receive such sad news.
Advertisement
“We received with heavy heart the news of the ghastly accident claiming the lives of our young graduates and I could feel the pains as a father because not after you have finished sponsoring your child from primary through secondary school to University and then on his way to NYSC camp this happened,” he said.
“It is a very sad moment and a black Wednesday, well we can’t question God when things like this happen, it’s God that knows everything and He’s in control of everything but our heartfelt condolences will always and ever go out to the parents and the families of those corps members. Our prayers will always go to these our beloved sons and daughters who have lost their lives.”
He announced his intention to lead members of the state executive council on a condolence visit to the bereaved families and directed the commissioner for youth and sports, Monday Uko, to trace the affected families for a scheduled visit and prayed God to avert such a mishap in the state.
Advertisement
“I pray may it never happen again, we pray for the families of these young sons and daughters of ours, that God will visit them and God will always be there for them because that’s what will make a difference, no word of man, no sympathy of man can ever fill that gap,” he said.
The NYSC DG described the incident as a sad moment for NYSC community and the affected families , praying God to console Akwa Ibom and the families who lost their wards on their way to the camp.
‘It is a very sad day for us, I refer to it as black Wednesday, we commence our batch ‘B’ stream one orientation exercise on the 27th of this month and just yesterday we got a call on what happened and the entire NYSC family and the people of the state are completely devastated. On behalf of the NYSC management and Corps members please accept our heartfelt condolences.”
The deceased Corps members include, Upere Innocent Peter and Akpan Victor Joseph; graduates of mass communication, Akwa Ibom State Polytechnic; Asuquo Miracle Effiong, graduate of Psychology; Ekikoh Stella Sylvester, graduate of Sociology and Anthropology and Ezuruike Coleman Chikwado graduate of History And International Studies all of the University of Uyo.
Advertisement
Add a comment
