The family has failed to receive justice nearly two years after members of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, or NDLEA, in Delta State shot and killed Ivan Omorhiakogbe, a two-year-old infant, and his younger brother, Omorhiakogbe Eromonsele.
The two were reportedly shot by NDLEA agents who fired stray bullets, killing the older brother Ivan Omorhiakogbe and wounding his younger brother Omorhiakogbe Eromonsele, who was hit in the left eye.
Recalls that on Thursday, July 13, 2023, while conducting a drug-peddlers’ raid in Delta State’s Okpanam region, the two were shot at their mother’s store by National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) agents.
The Delta State Government and agency officials announced plans to fly one-year-old Omorhiakogbe Eromonsele to the United States of America for treatment on November 5, 2023, exactly four months after the tragedy.
However, we learned that the child Omorhiakogbe Eromonsele had not been sent to the United States for medical treatment 21 months after the tragedy, nor had the family received any restitution for the death of two-year-old Ivan Omorhiakogbe.
Speaking about the event as one of the petitions before his committee, Senator Neda Imasuen called the N20 million offer made by the NDLEA authorities to compensate the family unsatisfactory.
In a media chat with members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Edo State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, or NUJ, Imasuen, a member of the Labour Party and representative for the Edo South senatorial district, stated that the upper house of the national assembly would not accept less than N100 million from the NDLEA as compensation for the family.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct, and Public Petitions’ chairman went on to say that the committee intended to make sure the N100 million was deducted from the federal government agency’s budget because it was hesitant to provide a fair level of compensation.
“For example, among the petitions we are treating was the one between NDLEA and a family where one of their sons was killed, and the other one had a gunshot injury on his left eye.
“Why we have not disposed of it was because of the money for compensation. The issue now is that the NDLEA is offering N20 million as compensation, and we say no.
“So within the leadership of the senate, we are looking at how we are going to get this money directly from the NDLEA budget. That’s what we are working on now to see how we can compensate the family.
“The case involved the shooting of two children of the same parents by the NDLEA in Delta State. The two-year-old boy was shot dead, and then you have the one-year-old brother and one of his eyes is almost blind.
“The NDLEA accepted that it was their fault and that the gun that was shot was their own gun and it was a mistake and all that.
“But, all they were now offering was N20 million for compensation for the dead child and the other one whose eye was almost going blind.
“I thought that was nothing compared to the damage done to the family. I mean, young children of two years and one year old.
“Only God knows what he would have become in life. Whether he would have become the president of this country, the Governor of his state, among others, only God knows.
“Just to cut his life short like that, and here his junior brother is almost going blind, and all you are offering is N20 million, which was not acceptable to me. So we are discussing that they should try to make sure that they have something reasonable,” he stated.
In the meantime, the family is requesting N2 billion in compensation from their attorney, Mathew Edaghede.
Edaghese stated that “a life was lost, cut short, and another destiny is being damaged because of the eye” when he addressed the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions to demand proper compensation.
Recalls that on November 5, 2023, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori revealed that arrangements had been reached with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency to fly the sibling to America for treatment while hosting the agency’s CEO, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa, rtd, and his delegation at Government House during a condolence visit to the family of the two-year-old boy in Asaba.
According to Oborevwori, he gave the Secretary to the State Government instructions to write a letter to the family requesting an American visa so that the youngster may receive medical care overseas.
The governor claims that the July incident won’t deter the state from pursuing anybody involved in unlawful hard drug use.
“NDLEA did not just go to that scene to raid; there was very reliable information. We went to the Federal Medical Centre to commiserate with the family and took care of the medical bills.
“We commend the NDLEA for sending a team for an investigation to ascertain what actually happened.
“I also instructed the Secretary to the State Government to give a letter to the family to get an American Visa for the treatment of the child abroad”, he said
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that the organization was attempting to expedite and expedite travel preparations in order to fund the surviving brother’s eye treatment in the United States.
But as of the time this story was filed, nothing of the such had occurred.
