Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has disclosed that a special trust fund to cater for education needs of children of the newspaper vendor, Ifeanyi Okereke, killed by a security aide attached to hm would be in place soon.
The vendor was reportedly shot dead by a personnel of the Department of State Services (DSS) attached to the Speaker’s convoy last Thursday, for a yet to be revealed motive, a development Gbajabiamila has repeatedly described as very grieving to hm personally.
“Those children have now become my children. I have made commitments to the family to train them until they become adults. I have instructed the lawyers in my office to immediately set up a trust fund for them until adulthood. The incident has touched me in no small measure and in ways difficult for anyone to understand. I am a man of peace and not violence”, the Speaker told colleagues of the deceased vendor during a meeting in Abuja on Sunday.
Gbajabiamila at the meeting with members of the Abuja Newspapers Distributors Association (ANDA) and the Newspapers Vendors Association, Abuja (NVAA) condoled with them over the death of their colleague, and also disclosed that he had personally visited the family of the deceased at Suleja, a Niger State neighborhood of Abuja, stating that “the arc of the moral universe is long but it always bends towards justice”.
He the said the House at resumption of plenary on Tuesday would honour the late Ifeanyi, as he invited leaders of the two associations to be part of the event on the floor of the House.
“Let me address you not as the Speaker but as Femi Gbajabiamila a citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has been caught unawares in the middle of this unfortunate incident.
“Many of you that have been following me from the beginning know that championing the cause of the masses has been my life work as a legislator. I have been a champion of the common man and therefore the irony of this is not lost on me and many of us. However, I will continue to do this as long as I live,” he said.
Also speaking during the meeting, spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu, said it was a sad moment, commending the vendors for the maturity with which they have handled the matter so far.
“Out of concern, the Speaker insisted that a foundation or a trust fund be put in place for that family. He has also promised to grow the wife’s business or set her up in business if she doesn’t have one,” he said.
In his remarks, President of ANDA, Benji Obute, commended the Speaker for his humility and thanked him for showing uncommon concern over the incident.
“I want to use this forum to appreciate Mr Speaker for the uncommon love he displayed to the newspaper vendors.
“We have stated our request, part of which is the scholarship, compensation and the welfare of the family. We want our late brother and colleague to be immortalized. We’ll give you the architectural design of a tent to be built here and named after him. We want a follow up of the prosecution. What we want is justice to be done,” he said.
