THE Nigeria Police Force and son of Registrar of the National Examination Council (NECO) Goodwill Obioma have disputed reports that he was assassinated.
A spokesperson for the Niger State Police Command Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement, said contrary to reports of assassination, Obiamo died after a brief illness.
“The attention of Niger State Police Command has been drawn to a publication circulating in some section of social media and national dailies that NECO Registrar Prof. Godswill Obioma was murdered by unknown gunmen in Minna. This story is totally false, untrue and a pure piece of fake news,” the statement read.
Abiodun noted that the families of the late registrar had ‘formally’ announced that he passed to eternal glory after a brief illness at National Hospital Abuja.
NECO Head of Information and Public Relations Azeez Sani also confirmed the death of the registrar, saying the family of the deceased had reported that he died due to an illness.
Premium Times reported that the late registrar’s son Goodwill Obioma Jnr said his father died after a brief illness.
Obioma was appointed registrar of NECO on 14th May, 2020, by President Muhammadu Buhari after serving as executive secretary of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC).
The late registrar was born on 12th December 1953 and hailed from Bende Local Government Area of Abia State. He was until his appointment as NECO registrar, Ebonyi State resident electoral commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Several news outlets, The ICIR not included, had reported that Obioma was assassinated in his residence in Minna, Niger State, on Monday night.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94