ruler of Issele-Uku kingdom of Delta State, His Royal Majesty Obi Henry
Ezeagwuna, and the Special Adviser to Delta State Governor of Information
Communication Technology (ICT), Mr. Sunny Ofili, passed-on in a fatal auto crash
yesterday.
The mishap occurred
between Issele-Azagba and Ubulu –Okiti on the busy Benin/Asaba highway, a few
kilometres from Issele-Uku, the monarch’s kingdom.
Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), popularly called Jeep, which the royal father was
driving, and a truck loaded with granite, with registration number FUG 238 XA
Edo. Both vehicles were
headed for Asaba end of the highway.
The impact of the
mishap which occurred at about 2 pm was so severe that the truck lost four of
its rear tyres to it, while the Jeep-which tyre screeches were remarkably
visible on the tar-caught fire on impact.
Eyewitnesses said that
the effort of the monarch to avoid the accident – depicted by the tyre
screeches on the tar – failed partly because of the proximity of the vehicles
before it ( effort) was made.
They added that early
callers who were attracted to the scene by ithe huge noise, to rescue the victim
were thwarted by the effects of the huge blaze that erupted.
However, they were
able to reach the state fire service which responded and put out the fire
though by then, both the monarch and Mr. Ofili had succumbed to the effects of
both the accident and the subsequent fire.
To recover their
bodies, the firemen, working in concert with the police and men of the Federal
Road Safety Corps (FRSC), had to deploy axes and other sharp objects to cut the
mangled jeep to extricate the trapped bodies.
Early public sector
callers at the scene, which was thronged by people from Issele-Uku and the
adjoining settlements, included the Chief of Staff, Governmnet House, Asaba,
Dr. Festus Okubor, and the Commissioner for Energy, Mr, Charles Emetulu.
Like other callers at
the scene, both were shell-shocked at the incident, though Dr. Okubor managed
to describe it as terribly shocking and sad.
the primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to elect chairmanship
candidates for the October 25 council election in the state.
represent Aniocha North constituency, was said to have monitored the primary
election in his council area before embarking on the journey with the monarch.
his council area as part of his subtle campaigns for House of Assembly seat
under his ‘Liberation Mandate’.
2011, was a two-career professional who excelled both in journalism and
information technology.
of The Guardian Newspapers. He is a Fellow of the US based Centre for Foreign
Journalists and was the Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of an online newspaper,
The Times of Nigeria.
Fortune 500 companies such as Lockheed Martin, Bechtel, and Internet software
giant, Symantec Inc., all based in the United States of America.
when he was asked to design an Enterprise Management System for the United
States Census Bureau. Ofili led a team of nine engineers that successfully
designed an EMS system that was deployed by the United States Census Bureau for
the conduct of the country’s 2001 Census.
Government that preceded his appointed Special Adviser, Ofili was a Senior
Engineer with a civilian agency in the United States, the Social Security
Administration.
President and CEO of two IT firms, Nigercom Networks Inc and Apogee
Technologies Inc.
