Lawmaker Seeks Compensation For Slain Corps Member

A lawmaker in Abia State, Chief Chidiebere Nwoke, last Saturday in Umuahia appealed to the Federal Government to compensate the family of Ikechukwu Onyegbule who died while on national service in Katsina State.

Onyegbule was posted to Katsina for the compulsory one year service for graduates below 30 years and was reported dead on May 1.

Nwoke, who represents Umuahia East State Constituency in Abia House of Assembly, was at the Federal Medical Centre  where the corpse was deposited on arrival from Katsina. He said that since Onyegbule died on active service having participated in the 2011 general elections, the government needed to extend the same goodwill accorded families of other slain corps members. Nwoke noted that the period was a trying moment for him and members of his constituency haven lost two promising corps members within the period.

It will be recalled that one of the NYSC members killed during the post election violence in Bauchi, Obinna Okpokiri was recently buried in the state. Okpokiri hailed from the same constituency as Onyegbule.

“I feel sad that my ward has lost two corpers in less than one week. I am not happy that they have accepted to bury Onyegbule without an autopsy to ascertain the cause of his death.

“I have appealed to them not to worry as we will pursue all issues relating to his death even after the burial, “Nwoke said.

The family of the deceased temporarily rejected the corpse owing to lack of autopsy report from Katsina to ascertain the cause of the death. A member of Abia  NYSC Welfare Unit, who spoke under anonymity, said that the corpse was handed over to them without any accompanying report.

The source blamed the development on the family members of the deceased, whom she said, mounted pressure on Katsina to bring back the remains of the deceased.

Meanwhile, the family of the deceased has sent a petition to Gov Theodore Orji of Abia to ask for an investigation on the circumstances that led to the death of Onyegbule. The letter signed by Mr Stanley Amakwe, Counsel and Solicitor for the family claimed that there was no prior report to the effect that Onyegbule was ill.

“It is, therefore, sequel to the instruction of our client to call for a full investigation into the untimely death of this young man,” the letter stated.