Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori on Monday visited the family of two-year-old Ivan Omorhiakogbe killed by stray bullets from operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at Okpanam area of the State capital on Thursday, July 13, 2023.
Oborevwori visited the family at the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, where the younger sibling, Eromonsele, a one-year-old, is receiving treatment for bullet injuries sustained in his left eye.
He commiserated with the family on the unfortunate demise of Ivan and promised that all efforts would be made to bring the culprits to book.
The Governor said that the Police were already investigating the matter and would make its findings known to the general public at the end of the inquiry.
Oborevwori said: “When we heard the unfortunate news, we immediately issued a statement calling on the NDLEA authorities and the Police Command to quickly investigate the circumstances, which led to the death of your son and injury to his younger sibling.
“On behalf of the Government and people of Delta State, we commiserate with you and your family over the loss of your son, Ivan.
“We have so much confidence in the police and as you know, they are carrying out their investigation; they will not make the outcome public until they are through with their investigations. So be rest assured that the culprits would be brought to book.
“Once again, I commiserate with your family for this loss and am happy that Eromonsele is recovering,” he said.
He commended the medical personnel at the hospital for their proactiveness in treating the younger sibling, assuring that the State Government would pick up all the medical bills related to the incident.
“Let me also appreciate the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba for the proactive action they have taken so far since the incident occurred.
“I had sent people here earlier to find out what they are doing and I am happy that they were able to save Eromonsele’s life and I know that he will come out strong.
“The State Government will foot the bills for the hospital treatment, so no money should be taken from the family,” Governor Oborevwori directed.
Also speaking, the State Commissioner of Police, CP Wale Abass assured the Governor and the family of the Command’s commitment to ensuring thorough investigation into the matter.
“Your Excellency, we will do our best to unravel the mystery behind the whole incident. We have sent messages to the NDLEA and they have responded and in no distant time we will come out with a report that would be made known to members of the public.
“Once again, we commiserate with you and we pray that God Almighty will give you the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.
“For Eromonsele, we are praying that God will lay His healing hands upon him to perfect his health,” CP Abass said.
Briefing the Governor earlier, Head of Opthalmology Department at the hospital, Dr Ernest Ogbedo, said they have successfully covered the eye to prevent infections from entering it, adding that further surgeries would be carried out on the eye.
“We have done one surgery but the child is going to need some other surgeries because there is an eye injury which the doctors went through and covered the injury.
“We did an x-ray first and luckily there was no bullet pellets around but we are going to carry out further investigation to see the extent of the injury.
“We have succeeded in covering the eye so that there will be no infections and other diseases to the eye,” Dr Ogbedo said.
