The Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED) has announced the death of two of it’s active members; Comrades Yinka Odumakin and Innocent Chukwuma.
In a statement signed today by it’s Executive Director, Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, the group described their deaths as an irreparable loss to the nation.
TheFact Nigeria gathered that both of the comrades died yesterday; Odumakin reportedly died from COVID-19 complications, while Innocent Chukwuma was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, an aggressive cancer of the blood on Friday but died on Saturday before he could commence Chemotherapy.
According to Dr. Ibrahim, There is no mistaking the fact that the demise of these two committed and courageous Comrades is a big blow to Nigeria’s community of activists and the nation at large.
“With the exit of these two activists, the tribe of indefatigable fighters leading the struggle for human rights democracy and accountable governance has been further depleted,” he said.
Going down memory lane, he noted that the contributions of the duo to the struggle for the enthronement of a just, equitable and fair social order cannot be discountenanced.
“At great personal risks and inconveniences, the late Odumakin and Chukwuma committed themselves to the campaign to push the military out of Nigeria’s political arena.
“Specifically, Yinka Odumakin’s energy and forthrightness was felt in the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which became the effective counterforce to the despotic rule of the military in the 1990s. On his part, Innocent Chukwuma remained a consistent voice in the pre-1999 days and thereafter, as he made valiant efforts to rallying Nigerians to demand democratic accountability and participatory governance. Chukwuma’s indelible footprints in the thematic issues of electoral and security sector reforms are evident in his stint at the Civil Liberty Organization (CLO), and the leading roles he played in the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and @cleenfoundation.”
The group commiserated with the family, friends and colleagues of Comrades Yinka Odumakin and Innocent Chukwuma, they also prayed that the loved ones they left behind will find the fortitude to cope with the huge loss and that the souls of the departed rest in peace
