7th March, 2012
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Kaduna, Northwest Nigeria, has disowned Mr. Godwin Stevens Okwumbo, who was found dead in a suburb in Kaduna. A staff of the BBC, who pleaded for anonymity, told Daily Trust correspondent that the BBC ID card found on the deceased was fake.
According to the Daily Trust, the spokesman of the deceased’s family, Reverend Chris Okwumbo, had on Sunday said that his brother was a staff of the BBC in Nigeria.
“We don’t know him, he is just an impostor. How can a BBC ID card carry an ETB logo? We know our staff from Maiduguri to Lagos and from Lagos to Abuja. He was never our staff and his ID card is different from ours,” the BBC staff said.
But the deceased’s brother, Reverend Chris Okwumbo said, “Well, we can’t say what exactly happened. The police are in a better position to tell you what happened to him.” When contacted, police at the Barnawa police station, said they could not speak to newsmen, adding, “we have forwarded the file to the Police Headquarters. So, the Police Public Relations Officer is in a better position to speak to you.”
And when contacted, the police spokesman, Aminu Lawan, said he was not yet aware of the case.
Mr. Godwin Stevens Okwumbo was found dead in the early hours of Sunday close to Dambo International School, after which his remains were deposited at the Barau Dikko Specialist Hospital in Kaduna metropolis.
It was gathered that residents of the area saw Okwumbo lying in the gutter, and alerted the police.