The Ijaw nation has been thrown into mourning following the death of a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Pastor Power Aginighan, and his son, Tammy in a road crash.
Aginighan’s police orderly also died in the accident that occurred along the Mbiama section of the East-West Road, Bayelsa State, last Friday.
Our correspondent gathered that the trio died on the spot owing to the extent of the crash.
The late former NDDC boss was also one of the leaders of the Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He was the leader of Delta Ijaw APC until his death.
Multiple sources in the state, including the state Treasurer of the APC, Mr. Ebiakpo Ezebiri, confirmed the incident to newsmen.
The sources could not, however, confirm the identity of the police escort and the time the accident occurred.
Ezebiri told journalists, “We were together on Thursday when we hosted Prof. Pat Utomi. People were trying to reach him through his mobile yesterday (Friday) to get his attention on some matters, but he was unreachable. Nobody knew he was dead.
“The accident occurred during the day. Since they were burnt beyond recognition, nobody knew who was involved. He was in the vehicle with his son and police escort when the accident happened just after the Mbiama bridge.
“Some of our people have already gone to the scene of the accident to retrieve their bodies. We are mourning. This is very painful.”
Aginighan was in Delta State last Thursday to host one of the leading governorship aspirants on the platform of the state APC, Prof. Pat Utomi, and was returning to Port Harcourt, where he lived, before the accident occurred.
It was gathered that the vehicle the trio were in was crushed by a truck resulting in an inferno which burnt them beyond recognition.
An Ijaw leader, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the incident, describing the development as a big blow to the Ijaw nation where Aginighan held several positions in the past.