Federal Ministry of Information mourns death of staff.

[FMINigeria]

​The Federal Ministry of Information has expressed sadness and deep mourning of the death of five of its staff under different circumstances. The latest involved three members of staff in an auto crash in Ilesa, Osun State, last weekend while they were returning to their bases after attending a meeting of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Abuja.

​The deceased are Kafayat Odunsi of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Adolphus Okonkwo, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Tunde Oluwanike of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN). Ten other members of the NUJ sustained injuries in the crash at Ilesa.

​In the same vein, the Ministry was grieving over the transition of Ms. Onumba Nwabunkonye Mary, who came to the office hale and hearty last week, but slumped and died in Radio House headquarter of the Ministry in Abuja.

​The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku said of the death of his staff "The news of their death came as a shock to us all, particularly the circumstances in which they lost their lives.

These deaths are coming at a time when the Ministry and its media parastatals are yet to recover from the trauma of the gruesome murder of Zakariya Isa, a cameraman with the Nigerian Television Authority, Maiduguri in October 2011.

​The death in their prime is very painful for their families and colleagues, especially now that the nation needs their services the most, but I implore you all to be consoled by the fact that they lived productive lives and died in active service for the nation."

Maku went on to reveal that ​"the Ministry and its parastatals will set up a special scheme that would take care of the welfare of the families they have left behind, as part of deliberate measures to assuage the pains of their death."

Maku further condoled the professional unions to which the deceased officers belong, when he said, "Let me equally commiserate with the President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and urge members of the union not to be deterred by this unfortunate and sad incident, but to remain focussed in discharging their constitutional mandate, as a mark of honour for the souls of the departed."

The Information Minister further said that he will call for special mass and Muslim prayers to be organised by the management of FRCN, NTA, and VON for the repose of the souls of the deceased and for God to grant their families, colleagues and loved ones the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss; whilst he prayed for souls of the departed to rest in perfect peace.

The statement released from the Ministry further urged all road users to exercise all caution on the highways and the media to launch a nationwide campaign for safety on the road in order to curb the loss of lives in road accidents.

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Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria

[Folami David]

This whole mourining had to happen @ some point so we just have to accept it as it is. Death is very much inevitable though!