NUPENG berates Lai Mohammed over comments on petrol station worker killed in Abia

- NUPENG has berated Alhaji Lai Mohammed for his comments on the killing of a petrol station in Abia state

- The minister of information had said the police did not kill the deceased

- In a strongly-worded statement, the union described Mohammed's words as callous, wicked and uncalled for

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has berated the minister of information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed for saying the police didn't kill one of its members in Abia state.

Late Chibuisi Chikezie Okameme, aged 26, a petrol station worker in Abia state was allegedly killed by a mobile policeman whilst discharging his legitimate duties.

His death sparked outrage in some parts of the state with residents burning down a police station out of anger.

Alhaji Mohammed had said the deceased was not killed by the police on national television.

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Reacting to the comments of the minister, NUPENG, in a statement signed by its national president, Comrade Williams Akporeha, described the comments of Mohammed as an uncharitable and very provocative lie.

Part of the statement read: “The union takes serious exception to this blatant lie and dishonourable attempt to twist the fact of the incident.

“For the record, the policeman in question is currently in detention, he has made confessional statement to the dastardly acts and postmortem carried out on the deceased wherein bullet wound was identified and specimen of bullet removed from his body.

“We find this lie to be very callous, wicked and uncalled for. We wonder how an elderly person and a minister of the Federal Republic will be lying against the dead.

“Mr Lai Mohammed is definitely not fit to hold such an exalted office of an Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The union went on to demand;

1. Immediate retraction of the lie on the same media platform he used to lie to everyone.

2. Removal or resignation of Mr Lai Mohammed as a minister of the Federal Republic.

3. Immediate prosecution of the mobile policeman involved

4. Immediate payment of compensation to the family of the deceased by the federal government.

“The union calls on all well-meaning Nigerians and all other social partners globally to rise in one accord to condemn the callous and wicked lie of Mr Lai Mohammed against the dead just because the dead worker is no more living to defend himself.

“Mr Lai Mohammed should remember, however, that the call from beyond gives no warning and we shall all be held accountable one day even if it is not here on this earth,” the union said.

Meanwhile, a former deputy president of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has condemned the reported extrajudicial killings in several parts of the country by security agencies enforcing the lockdown across the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ekweremadu stated in a statement on Thursday, April 16, called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the security agencies to stem the needless killings immediately.

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Source: Legit.ng