THE member representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal constituency, Rt. Hon. Ngozi Okolie, has laid a formal petition against the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) before the House of Representatives over what he described as “nonchalant attitude towards the family whose sons were shot by the NDLEA leading to the death of one of them, while one other is almost going blind”.
The lawmaker said in the petition that the family of the victims are in serious pain and decried the attitude of NDLEA towards the matter.
He appealed to the House to come to the rescue of the surving boy and the family so that he can be taken abroad for treatment, adding that the boy is going blind everyday, with pains.
Recall that about three months ago, the father of the kids who were shot during a raid on a black spot at Okpanam, Delta State, raised alarm over alleged abandonment by NDLEA after promising to facilitate the treatment of his young boy, Eromonsele Omorhiakogbe, who is almost going blind following injuries on the eye as a result of stray bullet from an officer of NDLEA.
During the ugly incident in 2023, Eromonsele’s other brother, two-year-old, lvan was killed by the same stray bullet and has since been buried.
Lamenting his ordeal while addressing newsmen three months ago, the father of the kids, Fidelis Omorhiakogbe, lamented the incident saying ‘I have buried my two-year-old son, and the other boy, who was affected in his eye by a bullet is going through pains without attention as promised.
“The state government earlier said that they will take care of the medical bills and asked me to list what I have spent, which I did. When the Chairman of the NDLEA visited us on November 2, 2023, he promised to take responsibility for the medical bills and to fly the child to the United States of America for treatment.
“He said there was no need for a court case, and that they will take the child abroad for treatment. So, we buried the two-year-old boy on December 13, 2023, because the NDLEA assured us that it would expedite visa issuance for my son, Eromonsele’s treatment in the US.
“I was the one that applied for the visa. The state government had written to the US Embassy, that they would take up the responsibility. The state gave us a copy of the letter but till date, we have not heard anything from them. I was referred to the Commissioner for Health and I met him, he promised to get back to me but till date, nothing was done.
“When NDLEA Chairman visited us, he attached a Protocol Officer to us for the process of taking the child to the US for treatment. We submitted all documents to the officer to process, since then, they have been telling us one story or the other.
“The NDLEA later asked us to move the visa application from Abuja to the Lagos US Embassy, which we did; but yet, nothing happened. Because of their delay, one of my family members now helped in January 2024 to get a visa appointment on February 2, 2024.
“We went for the interview and the US Consulate asked who was funding the trip, and we told them that it is the NDLEA. They told us that there was no Federal Government, Delta State Government nor NDLEA in their system and so, they denied us the visa and told us to re-apply.
“After I left the embassy, I told the NDLEA Chairman and he asked us to re-apply as we were told, and that the expenditure for the trip from Asaba to Abuja during the interview would be paid, which they did.
“Now, I have reapplied, spend much because of the dollar rate the Embassy has given us on April 2, 2025. My son’s health is deteriorating as a result of the delay for the treatment,” Omorhiakogbe disclosed.
Responding to the claim, Femi Babafemi, the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA denied the allegations and said the Agency was in touch with the deceased’s family.
