The father of a young boy, Eromonsele Omorhiakogbe, who was injured on the eye by stray bullet from an officer of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA), in 2023 has raised an alarm that the boy has been abandoned by the agency and government.
Eromonsele’s other brother, 2-year-old, lvan who was killed by the same stray bullet has since been buried, while the other boy hit on the eye by the glass the bullet hit is going through pains without the attention promised by the NDLEA and Delta State Government.
Lamenting about the development on Thursday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, Eromonsele’s father, Mr Fidelis Omorhiakogbe, called on President Bola Tinubu, Governor Sheriff Oborevweri and the NDLEA Chairman to expedite action over the plight of his family.
Omorhiakogbe regretted the deteriorating state of his son’s health, noting that the state government and NDLEA that promised to take responsibility of the child’s treatment abroad were not forthcoming.
“Today makes it 8 months and 15 days after the incident happened. I have buried my two-year-old son, and the other boy, who glass from the bullet affected his eye 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 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 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 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 document 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.
“Only for the NDLEA to call us on February 1, around 8:30pm that our visa appointment was February 2. We told them that our family member has gotten the date for us but they said we should go, that they would send letter across to the embassy.
“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 reapply.
“After I left the embassy, I told the NDLEA Chairman and he asked us to reapply 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 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, said the agency was in touch with the deceased’s family.
Recall that the deceased child, Ivan and his younger sibling, Eromonsele, had just returned from school to their mother’s shop when they were hit by stray bullets.
Ivan was hit on his abdomen while the bullet brushed Eromonsele on the eye.
The victims were rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, (FMC), Asaba for treatment but Ivan could not survive it.
NDLEA’s operatives were conducting a raid on a notorious drug dealer in Okpanam area of Delta State when a Toyota Camry zoomed off and knocked down one of the agency’s officers.
In a bid to demobilize the car and prevent it from escaping, another officer fired a shot at the tire of the vehicle, which eventually escaped.
While the injured officer was rushed for treatment, a stray bullet hit the young boy who unfortunately died in the process, while the brother hit by the bullet on the eye is still alive.
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