Wife of the slain Abuja- based vendor, Mr. Ifeanyi Okereke, has denied knowledge of a N500 million suit against the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila. Okereke was shot and killed by a security aide attached to the speaker on November 19, 2020. The widow, Mrs. Josephine Okereke, distanced herself from the suit at a media briefing yesterday in Abuja.
She said she was not consulted by her late husband’s family before a legal action was reportedly instituted against the speaker even though they were looking for justice. The widow said although she wanted justice for her late husband, the speaker’s gesture in setting up a trust fund for her and her children made such a lawsuit unnecessary.
She appealed to the speaker to continue with what he planned to do for them and not to be distracted by the legal action filed by the family of her late husband. The President of the Abuja Newspaper Distributors Association of Nigeria, Comrade Benji Obidan, also distanced the association from the lawsuit.
He called on the government to ensure that the perpetrator is brought to book. The legal adviser to the association, Wilfred Okol, advised government officials to subject their security operatives to psychological examination to ascertain their mental stability. Okol explained that it was important for authorities to ensure quick and accurate compensation be made for the family to reduce the pain that they were going through.
He said: “I recall that the former president of Congo, Mr. Joseph Kabila, was shot dead by his security detail. So, I advise the government to subject all security details attached to them to a psychological test to ascertain their mental state.” The Okereke family was a few days ago reported to have filed a suit against Gbajabiamila through their counsel, Mr. Mike Ozekheme, demanding N500 million as damages and compensation.
