Commissioner Condoles NUJ Over Members’ Death

The Cross River State Commissioner for Information, Chief Akin Ricketts, has on behalf of the government and good people of the State commiserated with the National President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Mallam Mohammed Garba and other journalists in the country, over the tragic death of three of its members from the Lagos Council in a ghastly motor accident last Friday around Ilesha, Osun State.

In a statement over the weekend in Calabar, Ricketts described the death of the trio as “unfortunate and tragic moment in the history of the NUJ,” pointing out that the news was “devastating.

“We in Cross River State are grieved over the tragic death of young, consummate and prolific Journalists, who passed away suddenly in their prime and at a time the country needed their services most,” the Commissioner stated.

“Our hearts go to the NUJ leadership who were all together with their departed colleagues in Abuja during a national meeting, a day before the tragic incident and their families, as well as, loved ones, who they left behind and could not return to meet them” Chief Ricketts emphasised.

The Cross River Information Boss urged all Journalists not to be deterred by the sad occurrence in their quest to serve their father land, and prayed God to hasten the recovery of those who suffered different degrees of injuries.

He charged the NUJ leadership to ensure that the immortalisation of the Journalists come to full realisation, noting that a lot more welfare packages including insurance were needed to be put in place, for Journalists in the Country to take care of such tragic and unexpected occurrences in the course of performing their legitimate duties to the nation.