By: Eben Enasco Kingsley (Benin)
Sequel to reports across the local media houses in Edo state, in penultimate week in the metropolis over the sudden death of Mr. JerryAyo, a contract-staff with Coca-Cola Plc Benin depot, and a determined bid to know the root cause of his death, the Conference of Non-Governmental Organization CONGOs, Edo State Chapter, yesterday payed a solidarity visit to the plant depot manager Mr. Ekuma Eze as part of its responsibilities to ward off youth restiveness among inhabitants.
The visit was prompted following the alleged involvement of the company and a subsequent move to quell the unrest prodded by some members of the family and sympathizers of the deceased to resolves issues.
The president, Mr. Jude Obasonmi, thanked the company for the privilege avail them, while briefing the management of the company during the visit lamented that, such a time the company and the family has lost him; pointing out that, it is also imperative to get to the root cause of the sudden death of Mr. Jerry Ayo.
According to him, “first, let me thank the management on behalf of CONGOs for the opportunity avail us to visit you. I have made several attempt to see the management on the issue but denied access by your security personnel. However, we got a call from an interest group requesting that we stage a protest which I refused to accept because we believe in peaceful resolution of conflicts hence the visit.
Thankfully, today we had the opportunity to be here and most importantly, to know what actually transpired between the parties involved and perhaps to what measure or plan has the organization put in place in resolving the inferno to ensure both ends are happy at the end of the day. Because we have had similar incidents in the past particularly the recent murder of Protae staff and many more. So we are here to set the record straight and stand as a gap to solicit for justice in your investigation to know what led to his sudden death which will help to quell further violence within the neighborhood.
Responding, the Depot External Public Relation Manager, Mr. Ekuma Eze, commended the efforts of the Coalition stating, that the visit was timely and in consonant with Civil Society responsibility to ensure peace reign between the society and government.
He said, “I appreciate your coming today to us to seek for justice. I have always had high regards for civil society groups for the interest in societal peaceful coexistence. I spoke with Mr. Destiny today, to see how he can put a stop to the purported protest by some alleged CSO members. I believe when we work together we would have a better society.
It is a painful thing that life is involved, but again, not just life but our own. Over the week, we have heard of how some media have reported it negatively but we have nothing to say for now because we have requested for an autopsy report to determine the real course of his death, so we have to wait to see the autopsy result and then look at a possible way to resolve. I was in the scene where the incident happened but by our own internal investigation but we noticed they were only two in the chemical operational machine. According to the partner, Mr. Kala, he shouted for help during the operation but when he (Caleb) rushed to the point his voice fasted as the clock ticks away. Caleb told us that as soon as he discovered he was weak, he put him on his back and rushed him to the company’s clinic. We did every thing to revive him in the clinic. When we noticed he still had life in him we called our ambulance to take him for intensive treatment. But unfortunately he gave up ghost. However, we would have to wait and see the result of the autopsy before we can make any further statement as regards the issue.
Meanwhile, attempts by the coalition to access the aggrieved family over the lost of their son proved abortive.
