24th August, 2024
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Scores of members of Akwa-Ibom community in Rivers on Friday defied the heavy rainfall to protest the death of their 23 years old kinsman, Asher Christopher Dan in the premises of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
Christopher Asher Dan who was a cleaner on a contract staff with the NNPC reportedly died at the NNPC building on Moscow road, Port Harcourt on Tuesday,20th August, 2024 in controversial circumstances .
The protesters who were armed with placards bearing inscriptions like ‘We want explanation on Asher’s death’, ‘Who killed Asher’, first marched to the gate of Rivers State Police Command headquarters at Moscow, where the representatives of the family of the deceased were invited for a meeting with top senior police officers.
Our correspondent gathered that after the group met with the ranking Police officers, the protesters were told that the matter has been transferred to State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department(SCIID).
The protesters later marched to the NNPC headquarters (a stone throw from the Police headquarters) where they sealed the gates with palm fronds and the picture of the deceased s before they left to State CIID.
Our correspondent who monitored the protest disclosed that no official of the company came out to address the protesters.
In an interview with Journalists, King Albert, the Event Coordinator of Akwa-Ibom community in Rivers state said, “regarding to the subject matter, our boy Asher Dan Christopher came to work on the 20th of this month (August) only for us to get information that an incident that occurred as at 10 am in the morning, we got information by 4 pm that the young man fell from this upstairs, this storey building and died.
“But the same people are telling us that they were not there when the incident happened. We saw the clothes of this young man at fourth 4th floor, while they are telling us that he fell from 8th floor.
“Now these people in question up till date seized the corpse of the young man, refusing the family and the entire community of Akwa-Ibom people to see his corpse.
“So we are calling on the Commissioner of Police, the Rivers state Government, all respected individuals of this state to come into this matter because it is a matter of Akwa-Ibom state and Rivers state.
“And is very important because the Akwa-Ibom state Government is aware of this and they will definitely come into this matter.
“We need justice, we need an autopsy, we need to see the corpse of this young man, because they are telling us they will not allow us access to the corpse of this young man for fourteen days so that they we have access to do what they want to do.
“We need justice for Asher Christopher Dan”.
Recall that on Thursday 22nd August 2024, Christopher Dan, father told journalists in an interview that he was yet to see the corpse of his son .
The Spokesperson for the Rivers State, Superintendent of Police(SP) Grace Iringe-Koko had earlier confirmed the incident, adding that investigation is ongoing.
The management of NNPC has not spoken on the tragic incident.
