Family suspects foul play, seeks investigation

PORT HARCOURT— A contract staffer with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Asher Christopher, has reportedly died while on duty.

It was alleged that the 23-year-old Christopher had fell off from the five-storey building and died while carrying out his duty on Tuesday.

However, the family of the victim has called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of their son.

The father of the deceased, Christopher Dan, said he was shocked that up till yesterday (Thursday), he has not seen the corpse of his son.

Dan said: “On Tuesday about 4:15 p.m., one of my sons called me that a colleague of Asher Christopher called him that I should come to Old GRA Police that the Police needed me, so I asked what happened, my son said he doesn’t know.

“When I got there, I asked where is Asher, they searched, they did not see my son’s name on the list at the Police station. I had to ask my son to call Asher’s colleague again, he now called the person, if it was old GRA Police station or not.

“The person said I should come to the Surveillance Office, upstairs at Old GRA Police station. I waited that Tuesday till 7p.m., one of the Policewomen told me to come back on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the Police took I and my wife with other people to the company, NNPC Upstream and Down Stream, at Moscow Road.

“So, I asked them to show me where the boy fell from. They said nobody really know if he fell from the 2, 3 4, 5, 6, 7 or the last floor.

“I asked them how the boy look like, they said he is with empty body. So, I asked them to show me the place. They went to show me the place. I have pictures of the place they claim he fell. I looked at the place, there is no sign that somebody fell from there.”

Meantime, the Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, adding that the matter was reported to the Old GRA Police Division and investigation was ongoing.

However, the National Coordinator of Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, Mr. Prince Wiro, has called for a thorough investigation in the matter to ascertain what really happened.

Mr. Wiro queried why the incident was not reported to Central Police Station, CPS, in charge of the jurisdiction by the company.