AKWA IBOM GOVT VOWS SHOWDOWN OVER MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF NDDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

The Akwa Ibom State Government has vowed that it will probe the mystery surrounding the sudden death of the Acting Executive Director of Finance in the Niger Delta Development Commission,NDDC, Mr Ibanga Etang.

Emerging reports reveal that the COVID-19 test result of Mr Ibanga Bassey Etang has returned negative, even as NDDC management had shut down its operation for two weeks over reported COVID-19 scare shortly after the death of executive director of the Commission.

Mr Udom Emmanuel during the commissioning of an ultra modern infectious disease isolation and treatment center in Uyo, had strongly called for an autopsy the Late Ibanga Bassey Etang should the COVID-19 test results of the deceased come out negative.

It could be recalled that the sudden demise of the Finance Boss and Akwa Ibom son was announced by NDDC on its official Facebook handle on Thursday and according to the Commission, Etang died in the early hours of Thursday of suspected COVID-19.

Governor Emmanuel, who stressed his die-hard interest in the lives of his citizens, pledged that he will stop at nothing to acertain the cause of Etang's death.

"I know I'm not supposed to say this but every life of my citizen is important to me. All of a sudden, I think between yesterday and today, a lot of things on the social media about the only citizen we had in the board of NDDC.
“He was my Special Assistant before he left to NDDC; Why is it that of all the persons that are there, it is our own son that has died.

"There'll be a time we'll start asking questions. From the internal memo, NDDC has been shut down and the information there says he died of COVID-19.
“As I'm talking to you, immediately we had the news, we asked the Commissioner for Health in Rivers State on the result of COVID-19 test on Etang. As I speak the result is not out. I'm only wondering how people concluded that COVID-19 was the cause of his death.

"Once the result is out, we'll ask questions certainly. I want to say here that we stand for our brothers and sisters, and we stand for the lives of our citizens. We'll rise to this situation. We've informed the Commissioner that if the COVID-19 test result is out and the deceased's result shows negative, they must do autopsy on that body."

As a result of the controversies surrounding his (Etang) death, NDDC shut down its operations with immediate effect and issued a directive urging all staffers to go into self-Isolation in a statement signed by Silas Anyanwu.

Recall that NDDC is enmeshed with series of scandals of financial impropriety running into billions of naira and currently undergoing forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari and yet another probe of financial scandals by the present management being spearheaded by the National Assembly.

The Acting Director died on Thursday amidst the Forensic Audit of the Commission and probe of alleged financial misappropriation by the present Interim Management Committee of NDDC by National Assembly.

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