Our hope dashed, say parents of slain NYSC members

Pa Rufus Gbenjo, 73, and Madam Sarah Gbenjo, 71, parents of Ebenezer, one of the NYSC members slain in the post-election violence in Bauchi on April 18, say that their hope of better living have been dashed. 

They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that they had looked up to Ebenezer as the family’s ‘messiah’. 

When reporters visited the family home of the late Ebenezer at Isale Obada area in Gbongan, headquarters of Ayedaade Local Government Area of Osun, the parents were still in deep sorrow and in anguish.  

According to Madam  Gbenjo, Ebenezer, the last child of the family and his immediate elder sister, Funmilade, were the two graduates produced by the family. 

She said: “The two are the promising children among the five children of my union with Pa Rufus Gbenjo, a retired driver from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. 

“Two of our children are deaf and dumb, while the third one is a photographer and they all  depend on us for survival, despite our poor state of living. 

“Funmilade, who graduated with masters degree since 2006, has no job.  “Ebenezer was always consoling us; assuring us that an end would soon come to our poverty; promising to cater for the other siblings, who are handicapped.’’ 

The parents appealed to the Federal and State Government to assist the family by giving Funmilade a job to enable her cater for the family needs. 

Ebenezer was a graduate of Economic Education from the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.  

He was serving in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area in Bauchi State, where he was recruited as one of the electoral officers by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and posted to Giade town where he was during the post-election violence. 

According to Funmilade, Ebenezer and the other youth corps members met their death at the Giade Police Station where they sought refuge when the violence broke out.

They, however, were not protected as they were attacked and killed by the rioters. 

She wondered why the police, whose primary duty was the protection of lives and properties, could not save the lives of his brother and other slain corpers. 

Funmilade appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan not to allow the perpetrators of the crime to go unpunished, lamenting that the demise of her brother had added to her burden. 

“I looked up to Ebenezer as my companion, who would support me in taking care of our aged parents but he has gone; left me to face the task alone without a job,’’she lamented. 

Meanwhile, Mr Adeniji Adesiyan, the elder brother to the late Jelili Adeniji, the second slain corps member from the area, has urged the security agents to fish out those responsible for the killing of the NYSC members. 

 According to Adeniji, only the prosecution and conviction of the killers will reduce the pain and shock inflicted by Jelili’s death. 

Jelili, a banking and finance graduate from the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUAA), Ondo State, was killed at the Corpers’ Lodge in Bauchi by the rioters. 

The bereaved brother expressed concern over the health of his aged mother, which had deteriorated immediately she heard the news of Jelili’s death.         

While Ebenezer was buried on May 2, at Saint Peter’s Anglican Church Cemetary, Oke Apata, Gbongan, after a church service, Jelili was buried amidst tears on the following day, according to Muslim rites in his father’s compound at Isale-Oja area of the town, about 500 meters away from Ebenezer’s compound. 

The presiding priest at St. Peters Church, Rev Oladayo Olaniran, called on the Federal Government to compensate the families of the slain corps members and to ensure that the killers faced justice.

The two burial services attracted the state’s Deputy Governor, Mrs Grace Laoye-Tomori, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Moshood Adeoti and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the Governor, Mr Gboyega Oyetola. 

The Osun Head of Service, Elder Segun Akinwusi and Mrs Clara Babatunde, NYSC South-West zonal coordinator, who represented the Director-General of NYSC, Brig. Gen Ismaila Tsiga, were among dignitaries who attended the burial services.  

Mrs. Laoye-Tomori, who spoke on behalf of her boss,  Rauf Aregbesola, at the burial of the duo, promised that the state government would assist the families of the slain corps members. 

She described the late corps members  as national heroes, who died in the course of national assignment. 

She also used the occasion to thank the President for his concern for the bereaved families. 

Source : www.thenationonlineng.net